Who is Curtis Sliwa, the flamboyant character dividing Republicans ahead of the New York mayoral election?

Curtis Sliwa, with his iconic red beret and a resume that harbors street activism, emerges as an unpredictable figure in the New York City Council race.

Founder of The Guardian Angels, the 71-year-old New Yorker is not a conventional politician: he is a former manager of McDonald's who patrolled night trains in the 1970s and now aspires for a second time to lead the largest U.S. city.

Although polls put him in a distant third place, his ability to capture conservative votes could tip the balance in a fragmented election, where the socialist Zohran Mamdani leads comfortably over independent Andrew Cuomo.

Sliwa's career began on the streets of the Bronx of the 1970s, an era of rampant crime that inspired his early initiatives. Before the Los Angeles Guardians, he formed the "Rock Brigade" with colleagues from a local McDonald's, cleaning up neighborhoods and escorting neighbors home.

From there came the "13 Magnificent Ones," a patrol group that policed subway trains—off-limits to police at the time—and areas such as "The Rambles" in Central Park, where it protected the LGBTQ+ community from attacks, according to its website.

What started with 13 volunteers grew to hundreds, and in 1979, at just 24 years old, Sliwa renamed the collective Guardian Angels. Today, the organization operates globally, with affiliates in the U.S. and beyond, focused on crime prevention, youth mentoring, medical emergencies, self-defense for victims of abuse, and support for the homeless.

His leap into politics came in 2021, when he competed as a Republican against Eric Adams, losing in a landslide defeat. Four years later, in February of this year, he announced his second unchallenged bid in the Republican primary.

His 100-day plan

The goal of his first 100 days as mayor is safety, cleanliness, government efficiency, and animal welfare. In addition, he will increase visible patrols in transit corridors and high-crime areas, reestablishing specialized teams against guns, retail theft, and quality-of-life issues, with weekly data dashboards led by the NYPD.

Sliwa also addresses the homeless crisis with an executive order to restore safety in shelters and improve assistance through joint operations between the NYPD, the Department of Social Services (DSS), and Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), seeking to prevent assaults and occupations.

On the economic front, Sliwa proposes a tax competitiveness and jobs plan that reduces the corporate tax rate to 6% and offers credits for job creation, led by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Economic Development Corporation (EDC).

He also pushes tax reform to protect homeowners with hardship deferrals and rules against speculators under the Department of Finance (DOF).

In education, Sliwa is betting on reducing the bureaucracy of the Department of Education (DOE) to return funds to classrooms, with dashboards to monitor reading, math, and attendance, and swift action against absenteeism coordinated with prosecutors and the Administration for Children's Services (ACS).

Additionally, he plans to expand gifted and talented (G&T) programs, preserve the SHSAT test for specialized schools, and strengthen technical education (CTE).

His family and interests

He resides on the Upper West Side with his wife, attorney and animal welfare activist Nancy Sliwa, and their six rescued cats - a detail he has made a mainstay of his campaign.

At Thursday's inaugural debate at Rockefeller Center, Sliwa spared no heckling or nostalgic references: she quoted Public Enemy songs from 1990 to criticize the 311 service and evoked the Crown Heights riots to underscore her public safety experience.

Facing Mamdani and Cuomo, he defended his role as "the only mainstream candidate," rejecting pressures to withdraw and consolidate the anti-Mamdani vote. “Curtis Sliwa never dropped out of anything in his life," he told the Wall Street Journal, in the face of rumors of million-dollar offers to drop out.

What do the polls say?

Polls reflect a challenging outlook for Sliwa. A survey from amNewYork Oct. 10-14 among 793 likely voters gives him 14%, behind Mamdani's 52% and Cuomo's 28%.

Quinnipiac's Oct. 9 poll puts him at 15% in a three-way race where Mamdani sweeps with 45%.

A July YouGov poll, focusing on national perception, leaves him at 7%.

In a race where Mamdani is widening his lead—up to 21 points in some polls—Sliwa is insisting on campaigning, patrolling subways, and attending events such as the Western India Day Parade.

His presence could split the non-Democrat vote and potentially pave the way for the 33-year-old socialist. But, as he says, his run is "an extension of his lifelong mission": to make New York a safer, cleaner, more affordable and compassionate place.

With early voting starting next week and the election on Nov. 4, the angel in the red beret might not win, but she might change the ending.