NYC Mayoral Candidate Curtis Sliwa Talks Law and Order

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks: NYC Mayoral Candidate Curtis Sliwa on Law and Order

Podcast: Bloomberg Talks
Host(s): Bloomberg Interviewers
Guest: Curtis Sliwa, NYC Mayoral Candidate
Date: October 7, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth interview with Curtis Sliwa, Republican candidate for New York City mayor. The discussion centers on Sliwa’s vision for public safety, fiscal responsibility, homelessness, and other key issues shaping the election. Drawing on his experience as founder of the Guardian Angels, Sliwa tackles the city’s fractured politics, skepticism around polling, and his plans for bridging divides in City Council. The conversation is candid, sometimes combative, and focuses on Sliwa’s unique positioning as a law-and-order candidate in a historically Democratic city.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Polls, Political Dynamics, and the Unpredictable Race

• Sliwa's Polling Position ([01:05])

  • Sliwa notes he's polling just below 20%, attributing this to the small percentage of Republicans in NYC and how independents and animal rights supporters aren't reflected.
  • Quote: “They're just polling Republicans who are only 10% of the electorate… I have an independent line that nobody has factored in. Protect animals. No kill shelters… very popular with women who rescue animals.” – Sliwa ([01:05])

• Skepticism of Polls & Historic Surprises ([02:04])

  • Sliwa argues that polls have been consistently wrong, citing past upsets like his mentor George Pataki’s victory in 1994.
  • He paints a picture of a race in flux, criticizing both Andrew Cuomo and leftist candidate Zoran Mamdani.
  • Quote: “I don't put any trust in these polls. I know what I feel in the streets... Cuomo's whole vote is based on fear. Nobody likes this guy.” – Sliwa ([02:04])

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2. Fiscal Policy and Budget Reform

• Tax and Budget Cuts ([03:37])
  • Sliwa claims he is the only candidate proposing real fiscal discipline, targeting tax, budget, and bureaucratic inefficiencies.
  • Plans to cut $10 billion from the Department of Education, reduce bureaucracy, and follow advice from trusted conservatives.
  • Quote: “$118 billion budget for the city, and there are no cuts. Cuomo and Zoran would actually increase it. I would take $10 billion right out of the Department of Education...” – Sliwa ([03:37])
  • Names Rudy Giuliani as his law-and-order model, alongside advisors Larry Kudlow and George Pataki.

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3. Navigating the City Council

• Getting Things Done in a Divided City Council ([04:36])

  • Sliwa draws on personal experience, explaining how working with City Council relies on negotiation and discretionary funding.
  • Quote: “It's called discretionary funds... I just want one vote from you, and I get you your discretionary funds. You're looking for a new park. You're looking for a new playground.” – Sliwa ([04:50])

• City Politics as Trade and Compromise ([05:17])

  • Asserts that dialogue, not combat, is needed to pass policies, even with opposition-party council members.
  • Critiques Eric Adams’ impotence versus the City Council.

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4. Homelessness, Mental Health, and Public Transit

• Direct Action and Shelter Reform ([05:54])
  • Claims unique credibility for using (and campaigning on) NYC’s subways and buses.
  • Proposes moving homeless and emotionally disturbed out of subways, making shelters safer, and reopening mental health hospital beds slashed under Cuomo.
  • Quote: “I'm the only candidate that actually rides the subways... We need to get the homeless into the shelters, but we have to make the shelters safe now. They're not. It's like Darwinian survival of the fittest.” – Sliwa ([05:54])

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5. Minority Outreach and Urban Coalition-Building

• Improving on Republican Performance in Minority Areas ([07:13])
  • Asserts unique Republican reach due to history with the Guardian Angels, who are largely Black and Hispanic.
  • He claims to be polling at 30% in the Bronx, criticizing Democrats for ceding ground to the far left.
  • Quote: “Everybody knows that Curtis Sliwa is a Republican who can go into 350 neighborhoods, in some of which the only Republican they've ever seen is Abraham Lincoln on a five dollar bill.” – Sliwa ([07:13])

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6. On Law and Order vs. Progressive Policies

• Position as Law-and-Order Candidate ([07:39])
  • Sliwa sharply differentiates himself from Democrats, saying he offers capitalistic, tough-on-crime governance.
  • Memorable jab: “We live in a city where we're best known around the world for locking up toothpaste and not locking up criminals.” – Sliwa ([07:54])
  • He ties perceptions of public disorder to progressive policies like bail reform and raising the age for adult charges.

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7. Immigration and Workforce Realities

• Balanced Approach to Immigration ([08:28])

  • Recognizes migrants as essential to NYC's economy (hospitality, restaurants) and warns against blanket crackdowns.
  • Supports targeting only those committing serious crimes, referencing Trump’s “bad hombres” rhetoric.
  • Quote: “Many of the migrants now are essential workers... If you start snatching them up... you're going to be depleting that workforce.” – Sliwa ([08:28])

• Relationship with Trump ([09:13])

  • Stresses pragmatic, “mezze mezze” cooperation with federal authorities, avoiding all-out confrontation.
  • Quote: “When you have Zoran Mandami and Andrew Cuomo saying I'm going to fight Donald Trump, guess what? You're going to lose... because he holds the purse strings.” – Sliwa ([09:31])

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8. Rise of the Far Left and Democratic Party Shifts

• Critique of Democratic Socialists’ Influence ([10:25])

  • Sliwa claims moderate Democrats have “waved the white flag” to progressives/socialists and refuses to yield to them.
  • Quote: “The moderate Democrats are now dependent on Republicans, conservatives, and independents. It's over for the moderate Democrats.” – Sliwa ([10:25])

• Message to First- and Second-Generation Immigrants ([11:26])

  • Asserts law and order is popular even in heavily Democratic, immigrant communities, especially among women concerned with safety on subways.
  • Cites opposition to closing Rikers Island due to concerns about public safety.

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9. Campaign Resources and Staying in the Race

• Grassroots Fundraising ([12:47])

  • Proudly emphasizes average donation size ($119) and local matching funds, claiming superior NYC-based support compared to rivals’ out-of-state financing.

• Rejection of Dropout Rumors ([13:23])

  • Dismisses suggestions of dropping out, chiding Andrew Cuomo as the “dropout king,” and contrasts with Trump’s refusal to run from legal or political battles.
  • Quote: “Did Donald Trump flee to Mar-a-Lago... because he was a victim of Lawfare...? No. He showed up in court each and every day. Cuomo is a coward.” – Sliwa ([13:23])

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Polls and the Street:
  “I know what I feel in the streets. I'm in the outer boroughs... I have 10 headquarters. I have signage everywhere. I don't see signage at all for Cuomo.” – Sliwa ([02:04])

• On Fundraising Style:
  “I would take the money of the local New Yorker who obviously is putting their reputation on the line when I'm getting an eight to one match...” – Sliwa ([12:47])

• On Women's Safety:
  “The number one number of workers in New York City are women... They go on the subway, they're being sexually harassed... My wife... has done my very first commercial about the plight of women being victims of random attacks.” – Sliwa ([11:47])

• On “Locking up Toothpaste”:
  “We live in a city where we're best known around the world for locking up toothpaste and not locking up criminals.” – Sliwa ([07:54])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:05] – Sliwa on polling, overlooked voters, independent line
• [02:04] – Poll skepticism, Democratic primary upsets, Cuomo vs. Mamdani
• [03:37] – Budget cuts, taxes, and conservative advisors
• [04:36] – Navigating City Council and discretionary funds
• [05:54] – Homelessness, shelter reform, mental health beds
• [07:13] – Minority outreach, Guardian Angels, Bronx polling
• [07:39] – Law and order, critique of Democratic policies
• [08:28] – Immigration, essential workers, targeted enforcement
• [09:31] – Relationship with Trump administration
• [10:25] – Rise of the Democratic Socialists, moderate Democrats’ loss
• [11:26] – Pitch to immigrants, women’s safety on subways
• [12:47] – Grassroots fundraising and campaign viability
• [13:23] – Accusations of rivals dropping out, resilience in campaign

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Tone & Style

The interview is fast-paced, streetwise, unapologetic, and often combative, in line with Curtis Sliwa’s public persona. Sliwa leverages local anecdotes, New York City lingo, and directly challenges both his opponents and general narratives about Republican electability in New York. The hosts interject with pointed, sometimes playful questions, but allow Sliwa’s assertive style to drive the conversation.

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For listeners seeking a comprehensive understanding of Sliwa's candidacy, this episode offers direct insight into how he frames the big issues of NYC’s politics, his strategies for appealing to non-Republican voters, and his uncompromising stance on law and order amidst a dramatically shifting political landscape.

Transcript

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[Interviewer]

We digress here to a really important interview and I would suggest an important national interview. If we assume, assume that we have fractured politics. Is it worse than France or Japan?

[Curtis Sliwa]

I don't know, man.

[Interviewer]

Okay, maybe. Maybe New York City is a template for us. Joining us, someone who has the attention of all within New York City, Curtis Lewitt joins us now. Candidate for mayor. Always, always, forever affiliated with the GOP and the Republican candidate. First of all, I look at any kind of polling and I'm sort of surprised that you're just sub 20%. Have you ever polled this high? Is this a normal polling?

[Curtis Sliwa]

I think at this point. I think at this point of the election cycle, yes, because they're just polling Republicans who are only 10% of the electorate. So we're talking independents that they don't poll. Sometimes they do, and I do incredibly well with them. Some moderate Democrats. And then remember, I have an independent line that nobody has factored in. Protect animals. No kill shelters. Animal abusers in jail. Very popular with women who rescue animals.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Curtis Sliwa]

And actually they're not heard from in the polls.

[Interviewer]

I look at the New York Times, they got fancy buttons I can press. I'm not as sophisticated as Curtis like Paul Sweeney is, but if I X Adams, they have a tab where I can take them out.

[Curtis Sliwa]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

And I do the math. Curtis Sliwa plus Andrew Cuomo. Guess what? It doesn't equal Zoran Mandami. But. But it comes pretty close. What's the tension you see now of the summation of the governor and you with the upstart candidate of the left?

[Curtis Sliwa]

We all know the polls have been wrong every step of the way. Been totally wrong. Remember two months go back to Iowa. Oh, no, no. Let's just. Two months into the Democratic primary, they were preparing the coronation of Andrew Cuomo as our next mayor. 40 points ahead is Rohan Mandami. He lost by 13 points. I look at my mentor in this race, George Pataki, on November 2nd of 1994 against the better Cuomo, Mario, they had him down by 12 points. He won by three points the day before the election. There was no early voting back then. It was either you vote November 4th or absent team Valor or that's it. Look at the Trump election over Harris. It was supposed to be neck and neck. He not Only won the popular vote. He won the seven battleground states. I don't put any. Any trust in these polls. I know what I feel in the streets. I'm in the outer boroughs. You Look, I have 10 headquarters. I have signage everywhere. I don't see signage at all for Cuomo. So Cuomo's whole vote is based on fear. Nobody likes this guy. Everybody knows he was the author of no Cash Bail, Raised the age, he wants to close Rikers. He and Zoran Mandami, when it comes to law and order, are two peas in a podcast. And then he talks about prostitution. Zoran is in favor of legalized prostitution. But the governor at the time, Cuomo, signed the legislation to enable people to go out into the streets and sell their bodies. So I don't see any differentiation at all between Cuomo and Johan Mandami.

[Interviewer 2]

What is your message to New York City residents these last days of the campaign?

[Curtis Sliwa]

I am the only candidate, GOP Kennedy, that wants to slash taxes, corporate tax, income tax, especially the property tax, which a mayor does hold sway over. And the Citizens Budget Commission said, I'm the only one who's talking about fiscal constraint. $118 Billion budget for the city, and there are no cuts. Cuomo and Zorron would actually increase it. I would take $10 billion right out of the Department of Education, which is all being spent on the bureaucracy, start cutting the Department of Buildings, and get fiscally reliant on people like Larry Kudlow, who's my advisor, George Pataki, who did that as governor.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Curtis Sliwa]

And then Rudy Giuliani, who is the best law and order mayor we've ever had in the city of New York. Now, those are three titans.

[Interviewer]

This came up this weekend. I said, I got slew on Monday. They said, you got to ask him this question. Mayor Sliwa with the City Council. Can you get along with the City Council to get things done?

[Curtis Sliwa]

Well, the benefit of my life is that I spent 13 years raising two boys with Melinda Katz, who was a City council person for 12 years. Head of land use. She's now the Queen's Democratic da. She taught me how you get along with.

[Interviewer]

How do you do that?

[Curtis Sliwa]

It's called discretionary funds. You go into the district, they beat you up. You meet with the staff because the staff does all the work. Remember the elected officials with Bloomberg surveillance?

[Interviewer]

Always.

[Curtis Sliwa]

Because the staff, the electeds, are always dialing for dollars, shaking people down for political contributions. And then you say, I just want one vote from you, and I get you your discretionary funds. You're looking for a new park. You're looking for a new playground. You're looking for capital improvement.

[Interviewer]

What's our politics?

[Curtis Sliwa]

A trade. I get one vote that I desperately need to show that there is dialogue even with those who are considered liberal, progressive, Democratic socialists of America. If you don't do that, no matter who the mayor is, you're not going to be able to get the city council in a majority way to back any of your initiatives. You'll be impotent as Eric Adams is now because Adrian Adams, the speaker of the council is the real mayor of the city of New York. What do you.

[Interviewer 2]

What's your policy for which is an issue that's very closely intertwined homelessness and crime in New York City. What's your policy?

[Curtis Sliwa]

Well, homelessness, I deal with emotionally disturbed in the subways because I'm the only candidate that actually rides the subways campaigns takes the buses, the Express buses. That's 6 million New Yorkers and others who at one point of the day or night are using mass transit. I've been dubbed by the Staten island advance the mayor of mass transportation. We need to get the homeless into the shelters, but we have to make the shelters safe now. They're not. It's like Darwinian survival of the fittest. And we need to get the emotionally disturbed in state mental hospitals, the very hospitals that Andrew Cuomo cleared from 40,000 beds down to 4,000 before he fled fearing impeachment to the Hamptons.

[Interviewer]

For you, Curtis Levi, for all of you across America, good morning. He is a Republican candidate in a fractured New York City mayoral contest. Let me quote exactly from AI because that's the way we roll. Curtis. In the 2021 New York City mayoral election, Curtis Lewa received 21% of the vote in the Bronx. I would suggest President Trump stun the nation with his minority success in the last election. Do you need that to win? How are you going to get the minority vote? And everybody thinks they don't go near you. Come on, you got 21% in the Bronx. How do you improve that?

[Curtis Sliwa]

Everybody knows that Curtis Lewitt is a Republican who can go into 350 neighborhoods in some of which the only Republican they've ever seen is Abraham Lincoln on a five dollar bill. I've led a group of guardian angels that are predominantly black and Hispanic. I'm polling now at about 30% in the Bronx. Remember, Eric Adams was supposed to be the new face of the Democratic Party that I ran against.

[Interviewer]

Is Mamdani the new face of the Democratic Party?

[Curtis Sliwa]

Well, let's face it, the Democrats allowed the Fox into the chicken coop first with Bernie Sanders and AOC and now Johan Mandami. I blame Adams, I blame Cuomo, I blame the Democratic establishment because they have surrendered their party, they to socialism. And I am the only one who is advocating capitalistic policies. Cutting taxes, cutting the budget, law and order. We live in a city where we're best known around the world for locking up toothpaste and not locking up criminals. Now, who does that? That's the Democrats.

[Interviewer]

You got to run like 15 times to get a line like that. I mean, that's great. Locking up toothpaste.

[Interviewer 2]

Immigration, what's your views on immigration here? This is a city that's got a history of supportive of immigration. We got a statue out there in the bay there. What's your view?

[Curtis Sliwa]

Well, many of the migrants now are essential workers in the restaurant industry and the hospitality industry. If you start snatching them up because they're not wanted for crimes committed either the country or origin or here, then you're going to be depleting that workforce. I have three sons. None of my three sons would do that kind of work. Now you, you go after, as Trump called them, the bad homage. The drug dealers, the sex traffickers, the cartel runners. Yes. And ICE was being applauded when they first did that.

[Interviewer]

But your, your card here, maybe Adams could say the same thing. I don't buy it. But your card is. You got a special relationship with President Trump, with what we see in Chicago, Portland, Louisiana. Give me some other towns, Paul. They're out there.

[Curtis Sliwa]

Baltimore, Memphis.

[Interviewer]

People in New York I know from personal experience are scared if they're migrants, immigrants, green card holders, to go out in the street. What's your relationship with President Trump that will make New York City, not Chicago, not L. A?

[Curtis Sliwa]

First of all, I'm leader of the Guardian Angels with groups in every one of those cities you mentioned. And they need the National Guard. We don't. Kathy Hochul, the governor sent a thousand National Guardsmen into the subway last year when we had a crime crisis. We're okay in that. Regards focus on the really crime ridden cities. I would have dialogue with not only President Trump respectfully, but the members of his cabinet preemptively. When you see something is coming in your direction, you've got to meet. You're not going to win. You're going to try to sort of, as we would say in Italian, mezze, mezze, poco, poco. Half and half. The Trump administration will get some of what they want. Hopefully the city will get some of what they want. But when you have Zoran Mandami and and Andrew Cuomo saying I'm going to fight Donald Trump, guess what? You're going to lose if you fight the President of the United States because he holds the purse strings.

[Interviewer 2]

What do you make of the rise of Mr. Mamdani?

[Curtis Sliwa]

Here it is simply because the Democrats were asleep like Rumpelstiltskin. I saw Zoran Mandami. He was out organizing votes for Democratic socialist candidates. They know how to get their vote out. The moderate Democrats are now dependent on Republicans, conservatives and independents. It's over for the moderate Democrats. They've sacrificed. They've waved the white flag. They don't even primary the liberals, progressives and the Democratic Socialists of America, they're afraid of them. I'm not afraid of them. I stand up to them.

[Interviewer]

If we assume that Mr. Mumdami is getting out an original vote, I mean he's getting out. People you know as a stereotype have never voted before. How do you get out the slave of vote of Democrats? You can't do this. Just how do you get out that vote? Let's like Mamdani is getting out these.

[Curtis Sliwa]

First time voters because I'm out in the streets. You see the headquarters in 10 neighborhoods, you see the plackets everywhere. I'm the law and order candidate. A lot of moderate Democrats are for law and order. They're not for Andrew.

[Interviewer]

I was in. I want you to do this. 10029 110th Street, Spanish Harlem, that post office between 3rd and Lex. You walk in that post office, everybody in there is some form of a first or second generation immigrant. What do you say to those people to get them to vote for Lincoln's party?

[Curtis Sliwa]

How? Law and order, right? They're against no cash bail. They want the raise, the age lowered back to 16. Because now we have all these juveniles doing drive by shootings. And they want Rikers island kept open. Why is Cuomo and Zora Mandami wanting to close Rikers Island? Where are they going to put inmates? They're going to be cut loose and they're going to just terrorize people in the streets. And remember, the number one number of workers in New York City are women. Talk to the women. They go on the subway, they're being sexually harassed. They're being perved on. They're afraid to go out at night. They can't afford taking yellow cabs, Ubers and lifts. And nobody is talking about what women have to go through in New York City. I know because my wife, who's an E attorney, has explained it and has done my very first commercial about the plight of women being victims of random attacks. What random attacks? This is being directed at women and they're not being protected.

[Interviewer]

There's a lot of talk about financial support. What financial support do you have for the next 20 day dash to the election?

[Curtis Sliwa]

I have collected actually in the three the last three quarters. Average donation $119. More matching funds than Zorhan Mandami, Cuomo and Eric Adams combined. We're talking about donations from New York City residents. The others are getting their money from out of state. I would take the money of the local New Yorker who obviously is putting their reputation on the line when I'm getting an eight to one match and I'm on TV and I'm in the neighborhoods and I have the money to run a campaign.

[Interviewer]

People want our news reporters want to know, are you even considering dropping out to shift this campaign?

[Curtis Sliwa]

You know what? Talk to the dropout king who dropped out against Karl McCall running for governor. Andrew Cuomo who dropped out and fled to the Hamptons because he feared impeachment. Andrew Cuomo. Did Donald Trump flee to Mar A Lago because he feared impeachment? Did Donald Trump flee to Mar A Lago because he was a victim of Lawfare by Alvin Bragg and Tish James? No. He showed up in court each and every day. Cuomo is a coward. He's the only one who's ever dropped out.

[Interviewer]

Thank you for joining Bloomberg this morning. Curtis Lewa, of course. Mayoral Ken we hope to get all of the candidates in here as we dash the first Tuesday of November.

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