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CityAndStateNY.com
October 4, 2021
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT. HOLD UP A SECOND.
As a Never Trumper running against a former cop, the Republican candidate for New York City mayor isn’t finding many allies. By Jeff Coltin
C
URTIS SLIWA, at home in Manhattan among his 15 cats, is arguing with himself. The Republican nominee for mayor of New York City explains his biggest problem when he meets voters who know and love him from his three-decade talk radio career. Here, the candidate adopts a mocking voice to play a member of his newly adopted political party. Republican: “It doesn’t matter anyway. Dominion! Smartmatic!” Sliwa switches to his natural gabble, a beautifully sleazy Brooklynese: “I say no, no no.” Republican: “Curtis, you know they stole the election!” Sliwa: “They did not steal the election. Biden and Harris won.” Republican: “Oh you know they stole it! Why should I vote for you? They’re not going to count your votes! They use the same equipment.” Sliwa: “I say they don’t use Dominion and Smartmatic. Can there be some chicanery? Yes. But I trust the process.”
Republican: “Curtis! You’re so hopelessly naive! They’re not going to let you win!” The play comes to an end. Sliwa adds a coda: “I spend most of my time with Republicans convincing them to vote.” Sliwa is a classic figure of the New York tabloids, a character most famous for roaming the streets and subways over the past 42 years in his red beret and red track jacket. He provoked the mob and got shot, then admitted that he’d previously faked his own kidnapping to earn publicity. He was in a yearslong relationship with now-Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, then when things went south, he threatened to run against her, the mother of two of his three children, for Queens borough president. He was suspended from his contributing gig at NY1 after making lewd comments about then-City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. Sliwa now lives in a studio apartment with his wife, Nancy Sliwa, and the 15 cats. But in a Republican Party that welcomes conspiracy theories, cultivates anti-vaccination beliefs and widely fails to acknowledge former
RON ADAR/SHUTTERSTOCK
IS CURTIS SLIWA MAKING SENSE?
