In April, as Andrew Cuomo held a sizeable lead over Democratic challenger Zohran Mamdani and Mayor Eric Adams sat on the sidelines as an independent, Curtis Sliwa already held the reins at the GOP nominee and said he had a respectable shot at winning the general election for mayor in November. The pundits thought otherwise; many said Cuomo would win handily. Three months later, a new poll has Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa within percentage points of each other, which would indicate the Guardian Angels founder knew what he was talking about. Sliwa appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to outline the strategy he thinks will put him over the top as the dog days of summer lead into the dog fight for City Hall.
Sliwa told host Larry Mendte he wants to reach younger voters now to convince them that he has the city’s- and their- best interests at heart, not the upstart Mamdani: “Baby Boomers have either fled to Florida or they’ve gone to heaven. We’re not the majority anymore, they are… they’re not all in for Zohran Mamdani, but- cautionary, Larry- stop attacking his religion. Stop attacking his culture. Stick to the issues and you’ll get the millennials, the Gen Z-ers on our side. But all the other nonsense- who should drop out, stay in, his college transcript- all you do is make him a martyr and a victim and get more of that peer group to side with him.”
But Sliwa will be keeping one trade mark that makes his stand out from the rest of the mayoral field: “If the red beret is the reason that you won’t vote for me, and you vote for a guy with a $5,000 customized suit who’s the mayor and Andrew Cuomo- smackin’ fannies and killin’ grannies- if that’s your reason [for] not voting for me, I’m going back into the subways where I can campaign where people recognize me.”
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