Who is Curtis Sliwa, the Republican in New York City’s 2025 mayoral race?

The New York City mayoral predetermination is dominated by Democrats, a reflection of the US metropolis’s profoundly wide bent. But a Republican could marque the quality successful the race.

Candidate Curtis Sliwa has remained defiant up of the November 4 election, shrugging disconnected appeals from immoderate apical conservatives to driblet retired and boost the chances of erstwhile Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is moving arsenic an autarkic aft being routed successful June’s Democratic primary.

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Some governmental observers spot Sliwa’s exit arsenic the lone mode for Cuomo to person a changeable astatine defeating frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, who has surged to the apical of elector polls connected a Democratic Socialist platform.

“New Yorkers are bushed of Andrew Cuomo, but Andrew Cuomo doesn’t look to recognize erstwhile ‘no’ means ‘no’,” said Rusat Ramgopal, Sliwa’s lawman run manager, with a pointed notation to the intersexual misconduct allegations that forced Cuomo from his station arsenic New York State’s politician successful 2021.

Curtis Sliwa supporters stitchery successful midtown Manhattan up of the archetypal mayoral statement connected October 17 [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera]

Sliwa has besides doled retired blows to some of his opponents.

“Zohran, your resume could acceptable connected a cocktail napkin, and Andrew, your failures could capable a nationalist schoolhouse room successful New York City,” helium said during the last mayoral statement connected October 22.

Sliwa has besides dipped into the aforesaid Islamophobic tropes perpetuated by Mamdani’s critics, falsely claiming during the last statement that the starring campaigner supports “global jihad”.

Local showman oregon subway hero?

So who is Curtis Sliwa? It is simply a question that has dogged Sliwa since helium roseate to prominence arsenic the person of the Guardian Angels, a unpaid crime-fighting radical that became celebrated for its patrols of the New York City subway system.

Supporters person identified with the do-it-yourself ethos of the group, which Sliwa started successful 1979, erstwhile helium was a 24-year-old nighttime manager astatine a McDonald’s edifice successful the Bronx. Many proceed to hail him arsenic an emblem of New Yorkers stepping up erstwhile metropolis medication fails.

“When radical spot that reddish beret, they deliberation astir subway safety, nationalist safety. They retrieve what he’s done for the city,” Ramgopal said.

“He is simply a larger-than-life fig who’s been integral to New York beingness for truthful galore decades astatine this point.”

A subordinate of the Guardian Angels is seen connected the subway successful Brooklyn successful 2021 [David Boe/The Associated Press]

Others person accused the Guardian Angels, who bash not transportation weapons, of perpetuating a unsafe marque of vigilantism. The radical has besides faced disapproval for alleged radical profiling, demonising immigrants, and wrongfully accusing individuals of committing crimes.

On the run trail, Sliwa has regularly condemned “migrant” crime.

The authenticity of the group’s exploits person been scrutinised, with Sliwa admitting successful 1992 that helium faked immoderate crimes to boost publicity.

In caller years, Sliwa has been a campaigner successful section politics, a vigor big and a media personality.

What are his platforms?

Unsurprisingly, Sliwa has made nationalist safety, peculiarly successful the transit system, the absorption of his campaign. Even arsenic transgression dropped, Sliwa maintained the metropolis is “facing a situation of crime, lawlessness and failed leadership”.

He has vowed to prosecute 7,000 caller New York Police Department (NYPD) officers, re-up arguable constabulary units, and — arsenic his website puts it — “enhance proactive and intrusive policing strategies to people amerciable firearm carriers, repetition offenders, and convulsive criminals earlier crimes occur”.

Critics person said those strategies person historically led to accrued radical profiling, the over-policing of number communities, and intrusions connected civilian liberties.

He has besides pushed affordability, an contented that has been ascendant this run season, pledging to overhaul the strategy the metropolis presently uses to coordinate with affordable lodging programmes.

In addition, Sliwa, who owns respective cats, has made carnal extortion a cardinal plank of his campaign.

What bash supporters spot successful him?

As the lone right-wing campaigner successful the race, Sliwa has beardown enactment among registered Republicans, who comprise 11 percent of New York’s 4.7 cardinal registered voters.

Despite rising to prominence decades ago, helium continues to rally caller supporters.

“His enactment with the Guardian Angels has resonated with maine a lot,” Shan Singh, a 30-year-old cab operator from Richmond Hill, Queens, told Al Jazeera.

Singh had antecedently been a Democrat but switched his enactment to US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party successful the 2024 statesmanlike election. He perceives the caller protests that person swept the metropolis arsenic dangerous.

Democratic campaigner Zohran Mamdani speaks during a mayoral statement with Republican campaigner Curtis Sliwa and autarkic campaigner erstwhile New York Governor Andrew Cuomo [Reuters]

The information that Sliwa is trailing successful the polls, helium added, is not capable to suffer his vote.

“Regardless of the numbers, Curtis is the idiosyncratic who seems astir existent to me,” helium said.

Russell, a 28-year-old from Brooklyn who asked that his past sanction beryllium withheld, came retired to amusement enactment for Sliwa up of the archetypal mayoral statement successful midtown Manhattan.

He said some Cuomo and Mamdani were excessively brushed connected crime, and helium took peculiar contented with their enactment for bail betterment programmes, designed to destruct currency bail for low-level offences and debar wide incarceration.

“It emboldens criminals to support committing crimes, due to the fact that determination are nary repercussions for it,” Russell said.

Does helium person immoderate accidental astatine winning?

Short of a miracle, Sliwa has nary existent way to victory. The latest Quinnipiac University canvass recovered helium had the enactment of 14 percent of apt voters. That paled successful examination to Mamdani’s 43 percent and Cuomo’s 33 percent support.

That’s wherefore Cuomo has pushed truthful hard for him to exit the race. The erstwhile politician made repeated overtures to blimpish voters, saying a ballot for Sliwa is, successful essence, a ballot for Mamdani.

Cuomo has adjacent near the doorway unfastened to giving Sliwa a relation successful his medication if helium were to driblet out.

As of yet, the appeals person been to nary avail. It besides remains unclear however galore of Sliwa’s staunchest supporters would beryllium consenting to transverse enactment lines.

“If Sliwa leaves the race, I wouldn’t ballot for either [Cuomo oregon Mamdani],” Russell told Al Jazeera.