New York's red-beret Republican eyes power-broker role in mayoral race

In a recent interview with AFP, Sliwa accused his second-placed rival, the former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, of being behind that effort.

"There were about seven different offers on behalf of Andrew Cuomo, not by him personally, but people representing him... With a driver -- a no-show job," Sliwa said.

"It probably would have kept going up and up and up and up until I said, 'Hey, this is not only unethical, it's bribery, and it could be criminal," he added. "The next person who meets me or calls me and makes an offer like this, I'm going to go to the authorities.' And it stopped at that."

Cuomo's office denied the accusation, calling Sliwa "a liar and a fraudster, who has admitted to faking crimes for publicity."

Sliwa, a 71-year-old Brooklyn native, is trailing a distant third with 15 percent in the most recent poll behind Cuomo on 33 percent and Mamdani on 46 percent.

Mamdani's critics argue that Sliwa's exit from the race would benefit everyone fearful of a self-proclaimed socialist winning the mayor's chair as it would galvanize opposition behind Cuomo.

Sitting mayor Eric Adams's withdrawal from the race has helped Cuomo's numbers even though the scandal-tainted Mamdani critic has not formally endorsed a candidate.

Sliwa has defiantly insisted he will not withdraw because of inducements or threats which have caused him to ramp up his security.

- 'Prime time'? -

Mockery of his run by Donald Trump has also failed to dislodge him, with the president saying "he's not exactly prime time" and ridiculing his fondness for cats that he rescues alongside his wife.

"I've had a love-hate relationship with Donald Trump going back 30 years... I am not running because of Donald Trump. I'm running to save the city," Sliwa told AFP.

He added that Trump did "help me by criticizing the work that my wife does with me to rescue animals, especially cats who would be euthanized. Animal lovers came out in droves to support me."

Sliwa, who describes himself as a populist Republican defender of "workers, not billionaires" founded the Guardian Angels in 1979 -- a volunteer group slammed as a "militia" by his critics that patrolled the notoriously dangerous New York subway of the 1980s. 

The former manager of a Bronx McDonald's is no stranger to controversy, previously admitting to lying to burnish his group's credentials. 

In 1992, he nearly died in an apparent mob hit that has never been fully solved. He has worked as a radio host since the 1990s, interrupted when he ran for mayor for the first time in 2021, drawing nearly 28 percent against Adams.

Sliwa is hoping for "a shake-up in the race... that catapults his candidacy to the forefront -- or at least positions him as a power broker or kingmaker," said Costas Panagopoulos, political science professor at Northeastern University.

That would allow Sliwa "to extract concessions from his opponents" -- and possibly a City Hall job, he added.

Sliwa, known for speaking his mind, has starkly different views on his opponents.

"Nobody really knew who Zohran Mamdani was, but he went out there with his followers, and they aggressively got their votes," he said.

"Andrew Cuomo was out in the Hamptons with his billionaire friends... It's hard to like the guy."

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