In NYC mayor's race, Republican Curtis Sliwa has no intention of dropping out

CBS News

3 days ago

Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee for mayor of New York City, says he will not drop out of the race to help Mayor Eric Adams or former Gov. Andrew Cuomo defeat Democrat Zohran Mamdani.
The Guardian Angels founder, who lost to Adams in 2021, told CBS News New York's "The Point with Marcia Kramer" on Sunday the idea of candidates strategically dropping out to block Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, from winning Gracie Mansion is unrealistic and possibly unfair to voters.
"Everybody loves to play fantasy politics. If you've received matching funds and you drop out, you gotta give it all back," Sliwa said. "You think Cuomo's gonna give it all back? You think Jim Walden's gonna give it all back? Not gonna happen. You think I'm gonna give it all back? I'm not independently wealthy. Number two, you're still on the line. They don't take your name off."
Sliwa said his supporters would not vote for Cuomo "under any circumstance."
"So let the people decide. Nobody's dropping out. This fantasy idea of Jim Walden, who is really a surrogate for Andrew Cuomo, is not resonating with anybody," he said.
Cuomo said he would drop out only if Adams is ahead of him in pre-election polls, and Walden made a similar promise. Adams said Cuomo should exit the race regardless because he already lost once to Mamdani in the Democratic primary.
Sliwa said Mamdani proved his strength as a candidate in the primary, but he opposes his biggest campaign promises -- a rent freeze on stabilized units, fare-free buses and city-run grocery stores.
"I wouldn't vote for a rent freeze because obviously you're gonna see an abandonment of properties," Sliwa said. "Half the people don't even pay the fare on the bus to begin with. We gotta talk about fare enforcement. Adams hasn't done any fare enforcement. Cuomo, when was governor, hasn't done any ... Somebody's gotta pay for the free buses, right? Nothing is free. You gotta pay for it. The point is, I'm the only one saying enforcement, everybody pays the fare. If you can't afford it, there's half reduction, a third reduction."
"City-run grocery stores. Hey, how did that work in Kansas City recently? They imploded. I was in Havana, I saw. You walk in with a ration book if you're a citizen in Cuba. If you're a tourist, you get to walk to normal kinds of Walmart supermarkets where everything is set. It doesn't work," he continued.
In his campaign, Sliwa is promising to slash the city's corporate taxes and property taxes in the outer boroughs. But reducing crime is still his top priority.
"First off, you've got to have law and order, because you could cut people's taxes, you could make it more corporate friendly, and they're not gonna stay," he said. "I'm gonna add 7,000 cops. And guess who I am taxing? Jimmy Dolan, Madison Square Garden, you owe $43 million in property tax a year. He's had a sweetheart deal."
Sliwa said he'd also tax Columbia University and New York University "only on their real estate holdings that have nothing to do with education."
"They've become big real estate firms. They own so much real estate in Greenwich Village and Morningside Heights that has nothing to do with education. That has to be taxed," he said.
Sliwa said he believes some Republican Party leaders would prefer a Mamdani victory because it could boost the GOP in the 2026 midterms.
"I don't believe President Trump thinks that. He's a New Yorker, but there are others who hate New York," Sliwa said. "There are a lot of people, even Democrats, around the country, they hate, they despise, they loathe New York."
Sliwa is attempting to become the first Republican to move into Gracie Mansion since Rudy Giuliani in 1994. Michael Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat before he switched to the GOP and won the mayor's race in 2001. Bloomberg was an independent during his third term.
Cuomo opted to wage an independent campaign after losing the Democratic primary. Adams chose to skip the primary and seek reelection as an independent. Walden also qualified to be on an independent ballot line.
There was no Republican primary.
Click here to watch Sliwa's full interview.