Republican New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa told Newsmax on Monday he is the only "law-and-order" contender in the race, pledging to restore public safety by calling himself "Rudy Giuliani 2.0."
Sliwa told "American Agenda" he's running against "pro-criminal" policies backed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, an independent candidate, and socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani.
"Andrew Cuomo is the architect of no-cash bail that's brought a crime crisis here in New York City," Sliwa said.
"And his apprentice, Zohran Mamdani — they both want to close jails, they're both in favor of raising the age."
Sliwa was referring to New York's "Raise the Age" law signed in 2017 by Cuomo, at the time a Democrat, that raised the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18.
Mamdani supports further criminal justice reform, such as closing Rikers Island and expanding diversion programs.
"So they're pro-criminal, not pro-victim," Sliwa said. "Because of Andrew Cuomo's mandate, we have to lock up toothpaste and not criminals."
"I'm going to turn that around because I'm Rudy Giuliani 2.0."
Sliwa, who founded the Guardian Angels street patrol organization in 1979, argued that his energy and visibility set him apart from the other candidates.
"I go 20 hours of a 24-hour day," he said. "You have to be in each of the 350 neighborhoods that make up New York City."
"And I'm on the subways every day where you run across a panoply of different people. You have to get your message to the people."
The latest Suffolk University poll, released Monday, showed Mamdani leading Cuomo by 10 percentage points, 44% to 34%, respectively, with Sliwa at 11% and 7% undecided.
Sliwa has vowed to stay in the race even though it has been suggested that if he withdraws, his supporters would back Cuomo.
"In a one-on-one race — and it's the only time they ever factored Zohran versus myself one-on-one — I do better than Andrew Cuomo, who was one and done," Sliwa said.
"Look, he lost the [Democratic] primary to Zohran Mamdani, who beat him by 13 percentage points."
"Andrew Cuomo said, 'I didn't run a good race.' He has not run a good race again," added Sliwa.
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