Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate in New York City's mayoral race, remains defiant, telling his critics that he will not drop out.
At a press conference on Tuesday outside a Manhattan subway station, Sliwa said, "So let's be very clear. I am not dropping out. Under no circumstance. I've already been offered money to drop out, I said no. Distant from that, with threats against Nancy and myself, I now have to have armed security with me, former NYPD officers. Never had that in my life."
Curtis Sliwa announces that he is REFUSING to drop out "under no circumstance." pic.twitter.com/xCwx1Uy2C9
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 21, 2025
Many political commentators have said that if Sliwa remains a candidate in the race, syphoning votes away from Cuomo, he will seal his city's fate to the likes of self-described democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani. Sliwa says that many people have attempted to bribe him to drop out of the race.
A commuter walking past the press conference shouted out: "Drop out already!"
Sliwa bashed Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing his primary battle against Mamdani, saying that he is running a lazy campaign and relying on Sliwa dropping out of the race to boost his chances of taking city hall.
When he was asked if he would prefer Cuomo or Mamdani running his city, he replied, "two peas in a pod."
"These Democrats, both of them are Democrats that led us down to this path of destruction," he continued.
However, it has become clear, especially after the first NYC mayoral debate, that the Mamdani campaign is using Sliwa’s attacks on Cuomo as a springboard to target the independent candidate as well, even sharing clips of Sliwa bashing Cuomo on X.