Election day COVID-era Goofus and Gallant

Curtis Sliwa and Eric Adams talking vaccine mandates and fixing de Blasio's two terms of mayoral incompetence

Sliwa declares bike lane flame war

 

 

 NY Post

Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa vowed Thursday to end the city’s “war on vehicles” by removing bike lanes and speed cameras — in stark contrast to transportation policies promoted by his Democratic rival Eric Adams.

“This administration, the de Blasio administration, and clearly Eric Adams, if he’s elected, partner with Bill de Blasio, would want to continue this war on vehicles in the City of New York,” Sliwa said at a campaign stop in Manhattan.

The Guardian Angel founder said his approach to bike lanes would be, “If you’re not using it, you lose it.”

“Have the Department of Transportation put a wire out and let’s look at the analytics. Every hour, how many bicyclists are passing by, whether it’s recreational, for work purposes, whatever. And if you’re using it, you keep it,” Sliwa proposed.

“Perfect example, Queens Boulevard,” he said.

“I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had visitation with my two youngest sons, we’ve gone to Queens Boulevard, small businesses have been crippled because there’s no parking as a result of the bike lane and we sit there for like an hour.

I’ve … barely seen a bicycle going in one direction towards the city or in the direction of Long Island. That would have to be eliminated,” Sliwa said. 

 

Curtis Sliwa and Eric Adams talking New York

NBC New York

The two men running to become New York City's next mayor faced off in their first debate Wednesday night, a relatively calm affair after some mild drama before the event.

Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the 1970s-era Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol, told NBC New York as he was heading into the debate that his opponent, Eric Adams, called him the "Donald Trump of New York," which he said showed a lack of civility.

Sliwa also said that the Democratic nominee and mayoral frontrunner refused to shake his hand when the two were almost right next to each other earlier in the day in East Harlem.

Once the debate began, the two men offered starkly different visions about how to lead the nation's largest city out of the pandemic, improve public safety and gird the city of 8.8 million people for more powerful storms driven by climate change.

Democratic Mayoral candidate Eric Adams says that he supports Mayor de Blasio's vaccine mandates for city workers but would have gone about the implementation differently.

The first topic was the city's new vaccine mandate, with Adams saying that Mayor Bill de Blasio was correct to mandate vaccination for city workers. He went on to say that as mayor he would work with union leaders and members to come to an agreement regarding the mandate. Adams also said he would uphold the decision to bench any NYPD officers or FDNY firefighters who refused to get vaccinated.

Sliwa disagreed, saying that the city doesn't "have enough police officers as it is." He also touted multiple times that he would hire thousands of more police officers in an effort to address public safety, using a new property tax on Madison Square Garden, Columbia University and NYU to fund the 3,000 more cops — a plan he said Andrew Yang championed, and was done in the 1990s by then-mayor David Dinkins.

Republican Mayoral Candidate Curtis Sliwa is against the current mayor's vaccine mandate for city workers, including NYPD and FDNY.

Adams retorted that Sliwa "made up crimes so he could be likeable," referring to an incident in which Sliwa lied about his own kidnapping in the 1980s. The candidate then hailed his own public safety initiative, where he said he will support the police — but only to a point.

"Public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity," Adams said. "I will have the backs of my police officers, but that covenant if you decide to undermine the nobility of public protection, you will not serve in my department. We're not going to see disorder in my city."

Democratic candidate Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa clash over their opinions on vaccine mandates.

The two then had somewhat similar notions of bringing back a toned-down version of the controversial police tactic known as stop-and-frisk, with Sliwa supporting its use in areas with more gang activity. Adams said he has called for "appropriate police tactics," with a new anti-gun unit to focus on gangs and guns using "precision policing, but also precision resources."

Democratic Mayoral candidate Eric Adams says there will be no disorder in the city should he be elected.

There weren't many heated moments during the debate, but one of the livelier moments came as Sliwa attacked Adams for saying he would carry a gun, saying that sends the message of "do as I say, not as I do."

Adams chose not address the barb, a strategy he has used throughout the campaign and continued for most of the debate, repeatedly dismissing Sliwa while refusing the opportunity to respond to an extended, rapid-fire critique from his opponent.

Since NBC is being selfish, here's the whole thing.

Delusional Adams wants to keep Steve Banks

Let's see the results of Steve Banks' DHS leadership. Taken outside the "Cooper Rapid Rehousing Center" in Glendale. Last year, DHS told us, "The shelter will serve 200 single men experiencing homelessness who are currently employed or actively seeking employment."

Do these guys look employable?

Great job, Steve!

Meanwhile, Patch is busy looking for "experts" to call Douglaston residents "NIMBY" for not wanting a shelter in their neighborhood. Gee, I can't imagine why they'd be opposed.

Sliwa on the street

Eric Adams wins primary, Curtis Sliwa drops first salvo

 

NY Daily News

Eric Adams declared victory in the city’s Democratic mayoral race Tuesday after holding on to a razor-thin lead in a pivotal ballot update, putting him on track to become just the second Black mayor in Big Apple history after running a centrist campaign focused on fighting crime and appealing to blue-collar voters.

Adams, Brooklyn’s current borough president and a retired NYPD captain, led former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia by just 8,426 ballots — or 1% of the total — after more than 120,000 absentee votes were added to the Board of Elections’ unofficial tally of ranked-choice results.

The Associated Press called the race for Adams after the absentee ballot drop, and the 60-year-old Brooklyn BP took his long-awaited victory lap shortly thereafter.

“The results are clear: an historic, diverse, five-borough coalition led by working-class New Yorkers has led us to victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City,” Adams said in a statement. “Now we must focus on winning in November so that we can deliver on the promise of this great city for those who are struggling, who are underserved, and who are committed to a safe, fair, affordable future for all New Yorkers.”

 Looks like a lot of fauxgressive shitlibs are going back to Ohio.

After the release of today’s vote totals, it appears the #NYC #Mayor race will be Curtis Sliwa vs. Eric Adams this November

The choice couldn’t be more clear

I will deliver real improvements to our city, while Eric Adams will deliver corruption & de Blasio policies: pic.twitter.com/B7zZ8F1LWe

— Curtis Sliwa for NYC Mayor (@CurtisSliwa) July 6, 2021

Curtis Sliwa locks up Republican nomination for Mayor

 

 SI Advance

 Curtis Sliwa has declared victory in the Republican mayoral primary Tuesday night.

It’s one of the first races to have a winner in this primary season, because with ranked-choice voting and only two candidates appearing on the ballot, the counting process was easier than some of the more crowded races.

Sliwa, originally from Canarsie, has been a presence in the five boroughs for more than 40 years. He founded the Guardian Angels patrol group in 1979, and has been a talk radio presence since the 1990s — his program has been on hiatus since March due to his mayoral run.

At 11 p.m., Sliwa led opponent Fernando Mateo, a business owner and activist, with 69% of the vote, according to tallies from the New York City Board of Elections (BOE). More than 40,000 votes had been counted with 88% of precincts reporting.

On Staten Island, 10,727 votes were counted for Sliwa by 11 p.m., and 4,425 for Mateo. Those more than 15,000 votes were the most cast in any borough for the Republican mayoral primary.

Sliwa will face off against the winner of the Democratic mayoral primary, and Staten Islander Bill Pepitone, who is running on the Conservative Party line.

With all the shit talking that's going to go down between Sliwa and likely Adams combined with the continued rise of felonious crimes, this is going to be the most volatile #SummerofNYC of all time.

Curtis Sliwa goes for a forbidden swim in defiance of de Blasio's pandemic beach protocol

Curtis Sliwa throws his beret and onions in the race for Mayor

NY Post

 He’s throwing his red beret in the ring.

Guardian Angels founder and WABC talk-radio shock jock Curtis Sliwa plans to run for mayor in 2021, he told The Post.

“I am the only candidate with the onions to take back the city,” Sliwa, 65, told The Post. “I have the street cred. I have bled in the streets. I’ve given seven lives. I have two left. I’ll use them for the City of New York.”

Sliwa re-registered from a Reform Party member to Republican last month and would run on the GOP line, though he is yet to officially file paperwork to run.

A lifelong city resident who fires quips and zingers in his Brooklynese accent, Sliwa launched the crime-fighting Guardian Angels’ group 40 years ago to patrol the subways and the streets in the days when Gotham was overrun by crime.

He says he now worries the dark days are coming back because of soft-on crime Democratic policies, citing in particular the state’s new bail-reform law, which the NYPD claims is responsible for this year’s spike in crimes.

“It took us a long time to crawl out of the belly of the beast of the 1970s through 1990s. Bill de Blasio and the Democrats are bringing us back in,” said Sliwa.

Sliwa’s platform includes ditching the mayor’s security detail and put more cops in uniform to fight crime. He’d also restore “pro-active” foot patrols and encourage more voluntary patrols like the Guardian Angels to work with the NYPD.

He also wants to keep open and refurbish Rikers Island and thwart plans to open jails in the boroughs, as well as opening more psychiatric facilities to aid mentally ill homeless people — calling it an “absolute sin” to leave them in the streets.

Sliwa has plan to reform City Hall

From the Daily News:

Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, who also heads the state Reform Party, wants to give voters a chance to abolish the city public advocate office.

Sliwa, who also hosts a daily radio talk show, is set to call Wednesday for a public referendum to eliminate the advocate position and have the City Council speaker elected by voters, not the council members.

With no oversight or subpoena power, “it is clear by now that the public advocate position has just become a taxpayer-funded method to run for mayor of the city of New York,” Sliwa said.

Making the council speaker a publicly elected position would take the power away from the party bosses who currently control the process, he said. Sliwa added that the speaker should also have increased oversight functions.

By law, the council could vote to put the measure on the ballot or the mayor could appoint a charter revision commission to do it.

Doubting that will happen, Sliwa said the state Reform Party and its allies are prepared to try to collect the necessary signatures needed to put it up for a citywide election.

Queens County dynasty freakout, Vallone edition

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Saturday I showed up with a group of volunteers working for Paul Graziano’s city council candidacy. In the recent Democratic primary he lost to the Vallone machine by a small margin. He’s got a real shot to win the General Election Nov 7th. But the tactics of Paul Vallone are thuggish as exemplified Saturday. Vallone and his campaign crew posted up outside of a Stop and Shop supermarket in the Bay Terrace Plaza which is in Bayside. They were first there so when we arrived we respectfully worked the back of the exit line from the supermarket.

Everything was going fine until Paul Vallone himself noticed that many of the shoppers were calling me over and having long conversations with me. He decided that he had had enough of freedom of speech and fair competition. He called the mall police on us who then instructed us that we were standing on private property and were without a permit which Paul Vallone had. I requested to see the permit but I was denied.

Rather than create a big scene since I was well aware that management was a Vallone crony we did the next best thing and marched outside onto the entering street and started to stop cars, talk with passengers and give out Paul Graziano literature. Thankfully the NYPD did not hassle us. Paul Graziano’s crew was working hard and rolled with the many changes that I had to make from our original plan.

This was New York State Reform Party teamwork at its best. We rolled with the adversity and turned it into a great campaign day. Now it’s onward to victory November 7th. (You can see in one of the pictures that Paul Vallone himself is leading the effort to remove us from us in front of the Stop and Shop).

- Curtis Sliwa, Chair of the NYS Reform Party

Residents come out for South Jamaica hotel protest

At the corner of 115th Avenue and Guy R. Brewer Blvd, a developer is building a hotel which residents fear will become a hot sheets type place or a homeless shelter.

You can see in the video that this property abuts the LIRR trestle. A large MTA bus depot sits across the street.

A group of residents braved the cold weather yesterday to protest this project at this unfortunate location.

There is an advantage to being able to see the writing on the wall.

Shelter residents show up at Steven Banks' house

A shelter resident with a special needs child showed up at Steven Banks' house to tell her heartbreaking story. Another shelter resident spoke as well.


Sunset Park very loudly expressed their unhappiness with de Blasio and their council person, Carlos Menchaca.


South Jamaica residents spoke out about the proliferation of shelters in their community.


To cap off the event, Curtis Sliwa had the crowd in stitches.

Maspeth protest fundraiser nets more than $12,000

Katz & Sliwa send messages to de Blasio about proposed Maspeth shelter

Melinda, sensing a community victory, suddenly comes out of the woodwork!

Melinda Katz letter to de Blasio re: proposed Maspeth shelter

And Curtis Sliwa attended the Maspeth shelter protest last night:






Meanwhile, NY1 reports that the city is still negotiating with the hotel owner.

Interestingly, a manager at the hotel, believed to be a relative of his, briefly spoke with protesters and was asked to relay a message back to him.



This gets more interesting by the day.

Thank you to Juniper Park Civic Association for the videos and letter.

Curtis Sliwa to run against Katz for Queens BP

From the Queens Chronicle:

The decision has been made. Guardian Angels founder and popular radio show host Curtis Sliwa will run for Queens borough president in 2017.

"Absolutely," Sliwa exclusively told the Chronicle after speaking at the Juniper Park Civic Association's Thursday meeting. "No doubt about it."

After saying he was considering a possible BP bid in a speech to the Queens GOP last week, Sliwa authoritatively declared he will run as a Republican against incumbent Democrat Melinda Katz, his longtime ex-partner and the mother of his two youngest children.

He added that his wide-ranging, passionate speech to the crowd of over 100 incredibly enthusiastic supporters in Middle Village was his first "unofficial" campaign stop in his quest to knock the "corrupt" Queens Democratic Party down a peg.

"It's nothing against Melinda," Sliwa continued, "it's just all roads that give the Queens County Democratic machine a badly needed colonic lead through the borough presidency because that's where the patronage is."

In his speech, Sliwa hammered federal, state and city Democrats who represent Queens for being more corrupt than others, claiming the county is more crooked than any other in the nation.

Well, he'll get no argument here.

Drive at 5 talks illegal conversions

Go to 17:15 where Curtis Sliwa interviews Paul Graziano about illegal conversions. It's quite entertaining.

Stopped in their tracks

Facebook

"Hi Crappie, Last night I went to see the Queens Symphony play a concert in Forest Park. In the beginning, Melinda Katz got up on stage to sing a couple tunes - after all it was her father who started the Queens Symphony and she has been singing with them for many years. First though, she had to introduce the audience to her two sons, Hunter and Carter, and Curtis Sliwa, their father, who of course was wearing his red beret and jacket. I give her an A for getting up there and singing although some of the notes were cringe worthy. The conductor complimented her and said, "We could have the best singing Borough President in the city and she's not bad looking either."

During the concert, a group of about 12 bikers on ATV's and dirt bikes came roaring out of the woods in a cloud of dust and the conductor made a comment about the noise as they tore up the main road. On the way to the bathroom, I mentioned the incident to a Parks worker with a badge and he was unaware of what happened so I went over to a 102 PCT Police car in the parking lot just so they would have a heads up. Sure enough, the bikers came roaring back a half hour later with two Police vehicles on their tail and they got them right on the road by the concert. So on top of a great concert on a beautiful night we got to see a light show courtesy of the NYPD." - Rich

Happy Valentine's Day from Queens Crap!

From the Daily News:

‘Tis better to have loved and lost ... and lost ... and lost again... than never to have loved at all.

Just ask Curtis Sliwa.

The twice-divorced Guardian Angels founder and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz are no longer an item after going their separate ways on Election Day 2014.

“Melinda is a great mother and a great borough president,” Sliwa told the Daily News on Friday. “We are just two different people with totally separate lives.”

The low-profile parting came after a long relationship where Katz, 49, bore two sons using Sliwa as a sperm donor. Sliwa’s second ex-wife, Mary, accused the two of conceiving the pair in more traditional fashion during a torrid decade-long affair.