Let’s get one thing straight.
The media, the consultants, and the party insiders want Curtis Sliwa to drop out. They say he’s a distraction, a spoiler, a relic from a different era. But here’s the truth they don’t want to admit: Curtis Sliwa is the last honest man in this race.
The same voices calling for Sliwa to “step aside” are the ones who told us Andrew Cuomo was a hero for writing a book in the middle of a pandemic right before we found out his administration undercounted thousands of nursing home deaths by as much as 50 percent [1]. They’re also the same crowd now cheering on Zohran Mamdani a socialist endorsed by AOC as if turning New York into Caracas 2.0 will somehow make the rent cheaper.
It’s madness. Absolute madness.
A Debate of Pretenders and a Fighter
Last night’s mayoral debate wasn’t so much a debate as a reminder of how far New York has fallen. On one side, Zohran Mamdani the progressive poster child who thinks crime can be solved with empathy circles and community gardens. On the other, Andrew Cuomo the career politician who still refuses to take responsibility for one of the deadliest nursing-home policies in the nation.
And then there was Sliwa. The guy who actually shows up in the neighborhoods politicians only visit when the cameras are rolling.
Mamdani talked about “reimagining policing.” Cuomo talked about “stability.” Sliwa talked about saving the city. He spoke about what it’s like to live here the subway chaos, the brazen shoplifting, the revolving-door justice that makes criminals feel invincible.
And yet, the press piled on him for refusing to quit.
The Absurd Calls for Sliwa to Drop Out
Let me explain how this works in New York political logic: if you’re an outsider fighting for ordinary people, you’re told to step aside “for the good of democracy.” But if you’re a washed-up governor with a trail of scandals behind you, you’re called a “steady hand.”
Cuomo should be the one dropping out not Sliwa.
This is the same Andrew Cuomo whose administration’s March 25, 2020 directive forced nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients, spreading the virus among the most vulnerable [2]. Roughly 15,000 nursing-home residents died in New York during the pandemic. Fifteen. Thousand. And his response? A self-congratulatory book and a press tour.
If anyone has forfeited the right to lecture New Yorkers about “leadership,” it’s Andrew Cuomo.
Meanwhile, Sliwa’s crime-fighting Guardian Angels have protected more New Yorkers than Cuomo ever did. He walks the streets at 2 a.m. while the other candidates are crafting talking points from their brownstone studies. That’s not a stunt that’s authenticity.
The Socialist Mirage
And then there’s Zohran Mamdani, the darling of the far-left, who promises “equity,” “justice,” and “free stuff for everyone.” The problem is, none of it works. His plan for rent control on steroids will drive landlords out of the market. His idea of defunding the NYPD will drive small businesses out of the city. His obsession with “reparative housing” will turn zoning into a political circus.
Mamdani’s platform isn’t new. It’s warmed-over socialism with better marketing. The same playbook that’s hollowed out San Francisco and turned Portland into a graffiti museum.
If Mamdani wins, New York becomes a test lab for the policies that destroy cities higher taxes, fewer cops, and zero accountability. The so-called “progressive future” he sells is a blueprint for urban decay.
The Real New York Choice
Curtis Sliwa isn’t perfect. He can be brash, loud, and occasionally outlandish. But so was New York when it was alive. He’s what this city used to be tough, unapologetic, and unafraid to call out the nonsense.
He’s the only one who can look a New Yorker in the eye and say, “I know what it’s like to ride the subway after midnight.”
Cuomo can’t say that. Mamdani can’t say that. The political establishment can’t say that.
The calls for Sliwa to step aside are nothing more than fear fear that a Republican might remind New Yorkers what real leadership looks like. Fear that law and order might actually make a comeback. Fear that someone who wears a red beret instead of a designer suit might outshine the polished frauds.
Conclusion
So no, Curtis Sliwa shouldn’t drop out. Not now, not ever.
If anything, it’s Cuomo who owes the people of this state an apology and an exit. And Mamdani? He owes New York an economics lesson.
Sliwa’s not the spoiler. He’s the survivor. The fighter. The guy still walking the same streets that the political class abandoned long ago.
And maybe, just maybe, he’s the only one left who still believes that New York can be saved by hard work, tough love, and the courage to say what everyone else is too afraid to.
Endnotes
[1] Independent report criticizes Cuomo’s “top-down” management of New York’s COVID-19 response, Associated Press, March 2025, https://apnews.com/article/9eb6805fbaeaf4f032d03bf7a373edea.
[2] New York COVID-19 Nursing Home Scandal, Wikipedia, accessed October 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_COVID-19_nursing_home_scandal.
[3] Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa Clash Bitterly During Final NYC Mayoral Debate, Associated Press, October 2025, https://apnews.com/article/982e44969868d8a7a3c69cf4023f9533.
Jacob Silver is a contributor for Direct Line News. He can be reached at Jacob.Silver@mcgopclub.com
Direct Line News is a Maryland-based free-access publication committed to the Republican reform tradition.
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