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To say that Curtis Sliwa is a survivor is akin to saying that a cheetah is a fast animal. The Guardian Angels founder has survived countless fights on the streets and a shooting allegedly at the request of John Gotti Jr. in his lifetime, so it is very likely that he will land on his feet after finishing a distant third in the 2025 mayoral election that saw Zohran Mamdani become mayor-elect. Sliwa is also one of the legendary characters that have added to the charm and color of New York’s history, and it is a fair assessment that few people love the city to the extent that Sliwa does. He appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to say that, not only will he survive, but he will continue to hold Mamdani’s feet to the fire to hold the new mayor accountable as he makes the decisions that defines the future of the Big Apple.
Sliwa told host Larry Mendte that the voters should remember that all the talk to force him out of the race to give Andrew Cuomo a chance to beat Mamdani still didn’t make a difference: “Remember, the Masters of the Universe weighed in: Trump, Elon Musk, soon to be a trillionaire, and other factors, other billionaires. And still, it wasn’t going to turn Andrew Cuomo into the mayor. He had too much baggage; he was too loathed, too hated. But it is what ism an now the people must suffer because they didn’t take the other alternative, which was me, and now they must live with Zohran Mamdani… All of you can leave if that’s what you want to do, but I stay, I fight for what I know is right. I improve, I don’t move, and like the scene in Les Miserables, I say to those who are willing got join me, to the barricades.”
Sliwa says he was most shocked that he needed to hire protection for his wife as Election Day drew closer and people blamed him for Mamdani’s win: “I had to have armed guards, my wife had to get armed guards, I had to make sure that my staff was protected and volunteers, and it was really a stain on what I had done in New York… (and yet) I have people who walk around acting like Zohran Mamdani is a creation of Curtis Sliwa- no!”
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