B AC K & F O R T H
The Guardian’s Angle C
urtis Sliwa rose to fame in the 1980s as the founder of the Guardian Angels, the unarmed citizen crime patrol force that now operates in 17 countries and 67 cities around the world. Since the inception of the organization, Sliwa, who is instantly recognizable by his iconic red beret, has been involved in New York State politics as a commentator, agitator and candidate booster. For over two decades he’s been a fixture on conservative talk radio—currently he’s the host of both the morning and evening drive time shows on AM 970. He also appears in a segment every Wednesday on NY1’s Inside City Hall, in which he spars with El Diario columnist Gerson Borrero on the issues du jour. Most recently Sliwa has been in the news as the partner of former City Councilwoman Melinda Katz, the Queens County Democratic Party’s choice for borough president. City & State Editor Morgan Pehme spoke with Sliwa about stopand-frisk, Andrew Cuomo and what Queens can expect if Sliwa winds up the First Gentleman of the borough. The following is an edited transcript.
City &State: You have devoted a good portion of your career to law enforcement and public safety. What is your take on the stop-and-frisk debate? Curtis Sliwa: Stop-and-frisk has been the most effective policy inherited from Giuliani and [former New York City Police Commissioner William] Bratton, [who] used it minimally. It’s excessively used now, because it’s now a numbers game. We have 10,000 less cops. There’s a thousand from that that are assigned to antiterrorism duty—so now, 11,000 less. And yet crime, violent crime, is at a point that it was in 1956 when Dwight Eisenhower was president and playing golf every day … and Mickey Mantle was winning the Triple Crown in the pinstripes. 1956! … The only area that I’ve seen it abused is what I see as so abusive toward all New Yorkers: quotas. Whether it’s tickets, fees, fines, the hidden taxes and stop-and-frisk. There are quotas. And you give a cop a quota, and when he’s running out of time he’s gonna stop anyone. Not even gonna use his street sense, street smarts, to get the guns; he’s just gonna stop. And that’s it; the quotas are the poison in the mix. They must be eliminated. They call ’em “performance guidelines,” “productivity guidelines.” Garbage! It’s quotas. C&S: You have been doing some campaigning for Melinda Katz. Do you feel you have to moderate your opinions on anything so as not to be a liability to her candidacy? CS: I gotta tell you, I’m Queens’ First Dad. Most of the work that I do for Melinda is to watch our two sons at night, because she’s out there like the rest of her adversaries … It’s not easy when you’re running for elective office, particularly in the crowded field she’s in, unlike Eric Adams, who can basically dance into office even though at any moment he’s gonna get indicted and go to the federal hoosegow. So, I’m basically Queens’ First Dad … watching our two sons, and I’m her Maytag … She takes no political advice from me.
CITY&STATE
She says, “Spare me. We couldn’t be more hopelessly different in our opinions. I’m not interested in your political opinions.” … This ain’t like you get two-for-one— you know, like Hillary and Bill or some of the other political couples … When we have our discussions, man, it’s like ammonia and bleach. But there are events that I’ll go to, and the one thing that I’ll tell them about her—because they know how different I am and I don’t hesitate to say how different I am—she’s a true believer. I’ve supported people, who will remain nameless, I’ve put my body and soul and all my free time on the line to get them elected and they were not true believers. They were fakes, phonies, fraudulent fugazis. And I get so angry thinking about that, because they faked me out and they faked out a lot of other people. She is an absolute true believer. C&S: What should Queens expect if you wind up its First Gentleman? CS: First Gentleman? I’ll be in the outhouse! Not in Queens Borough Hall—the White House. Melinda has already been deputy borough president. She knows Queens. She was born and raised in Queens. I always viewed Queens as being soft. I’m Brooklyn, Bronx. That’s where I really feel the vibe. Queens: soft borough. You know, borough of intellects, kids who would go to [Benjamin] Cardozo [High School], Townsend [Harris High School], brainiac schools. Kids [who] I would view them [like], “You’re from Queens? You’re gonna be my milk money! I got the pin number right on my fist.” Not hardcore at all. That’s the environment she grew up in. So, culturally we couldn’t be any more different. Politically we couldn’t be any more different. And just as she doesn’t ever tell me what to say—I mean, look, some of the people she has to work with, when I get through with them on NY1 or on the radio program, I’m wondering if they’re even ever gonna talk to her again, but she has never asked me to back off. Just as, in this case, I never offer my political opinion, because I know it’s gonna be rejected. C&S: You have been a fierce critic of the governor. What’s your problem with Andrew Cuomo? CS: Andrew “Evil Eyes” Cuomo, King Cuomo the Second, son of Mario “Faccia Brutta” Cuomo … Mario Cuomo was one of the first elected officials to embrace [the Guardian Angels]. He was lieutenant governor at the time … He invited us up to Albany, he gave us awards. It was in direct defiance of Ed Koch, who was our No.1 adversary. So I owed a lot to Mario Cuomo. But just because he patted me so hard on the back I had to go for a chiropractic adjustment did not mean that I didn’t [realize he was] the great vacillator ... The words poured from his lips, but it was never followed by action. … And, remember, his wartime consigliere at the time was Andrew “Evil Eyes” Cuomo. He was playing the role of [Joe] Percoco now … Andrew, I always had a problem [with], because Andrew had this anger management problem. … [N]aturally the coup de grâce was when I showed up at the coronation at the Westchester Hilton. Remember, no competiTo read the full text tion in the primaries. He cleared the field of this interview, … And who showed up as King Cuomo with including Sliwa’s the crown, with the scepter? Me! … [And] take on Anthony Weiner everyone freaked, because I walked right and the rest of the mayoral towards the main floor. And the Troopers field, check out grabbed me and security grabbed me, and cityandstateny.com. what was gonna be the front page of the New York Post? The coronation, the rebirth, the resurrection: He’s back! Andrew Cuomo! … It had a sidebar of me being King Cuomo and, you know, doing my Cuomo-esque things—and, man, let’s face it, whatever hope there was of healing the rift [between us], forget it! I threw gasoline on the fire. … [N]ow anytime I get anywhere near Andrew … all of a sudden [Percoco’s] like Dennis Rodman used to be on defense—all over me. … I can’t even move. … So the blood feuds continue. The political blood feuds continue until the day I die, because one thing about me, just like I am with the Gottis and the Gambinos and organized crime, it is very difficult for me to forgive, it is very difficult for me to forget. And, remember, that’s the same ideology that many of them have, although they’re not as verbal about it.
www.cityandstateny.com | june 17, 2013
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AARON ADLER
A Q&A With Curtis Sliwa