Curtis Sliwa Biography

Curtis Sliwa was born in Canarsie, a Brooklyn neighborhood in New York City, New York, USA, on March 26, 1954. His mother, Frances (Francesca Bianchino), was an Italian, while his father, Chester Sliwa, was a Polish merchant seaman.

Theirs was a Catholic family. Sliwa also had two sisters.

He initially attended the Jesuit high school Brooklyn Prep but was expelled later. He then graduated from Canarsie High School.

He began his career as a newspaper delivery boy for the Daily News. At 16, he appeared in the paper, for gathering over five tons of reusable trash as part of a recycling program.

In December 1970, he was also featured in the Canarsie Courier, for saving six people from a fire after he came across a building on a fire while on his way to deliver newspapers. His heroics won him the Newsboy of the Year award.

He was also invited to the White House to meet then-President Richard Nixon. He later also worked as a night manager for a McDonald's outlet on Fordham Road in the Bronx area.

By his early 20s, Sliwa was a manager at a McDonald’s outlet in The Bronx and was known by his nickname, Rock. He soon gathered the restaurant’s workers into what was known as the Rock Brigade, a volunteer garbage clean-up group.

On January 1, 1979, Sliwa and his group completed a 60-hour Marathon Sweep across 140 miles of New York. Later that year, the group had been named the Magnificent 13 and had transformed into a crime-fighting crew.

His group later included volunteers who rode the subways of New York and protected law-abiding citizens from crimes. They also staged a protest against the street gang The Warriors, at Times Square.

The Magnificent 13 then began bus patrols in Brooklyn. Soon, the group changed its name to Guardian Angels. They patrolled areas such as the Christopher Street area and West Side piers, which were notorious drug belts.

The group that initially had 13 people, later expanded to 140 cities, across 14 countries. They are known for wearing their signature red berets and bomber jackets.

The group later started the Junior Angels program, the Youth Outreach programs, and the Washington Heights Community Center. During last year’s Black Lives Matter movement, they prevented people from breaking into stores in Manhattan’s shopping centers.

In 1991, Sliwa started his radio career as a talk show host. He mostly appeared on WABC shows and later had a brief stint on WNYC. His first show had a segment named Mob Talk, which had him speak about the recent incidents related to the mafia.

His radio career of three decades has seen him host shows such as Kuby in the Morning, a show he began co-hosting with attorney Ron Kuby in 2000. The show ran for 8 years.

He has also worked with co-hosts Eboni Williams and Juliet Huddy. He later shot to fame with the show Curtis Sliwa LIVE. He went on a break from radio after joining politics.

On June 19, 1992, Curtis Sliwa was kidnapped by two unidentified men and shot at after they picked him up in a stolen taxi near his home in the East Village, Manhattan. Apparently, one of the gunmen had hidden himself in the front passenger seat and fired at him.

The kidnapping failed when Sliwa jumped from one of the car’s windows. He later had to go through surgery for his injuries.

He later stated that the shootout was a direct result of his fight against criminals and one of his radio talk shows that spoke about the mafia. Years later, a member of the infamous Gambino crime family, John Gotti Jr., and an associate of his, were charged with the attempted murder of Sliva. However, they were never convicted for the shooting.

Curtis Sliwa was initially a nonchalant independent voter, with no serious political affiliations. In 2016, however, he helped take over the short-lived New York State Reform Party. The party died with its access to the ballot being taken away in 2018.

Though he joined the Republican Party later, he has always been part of the anti-Donald Trump gang and has criticized him and his policies for a long time. In fact, he joined the Republican Party in February 2021, after Trump left the presidential office.

In March 2020, he announced he would run for the 2021 mayor of New York City as a Republican. In the primary race, Fernando Mateo, a Trump supporter, was his rival.

Sliwa has, in the past, opposed the Defund the Police movement and has supported a property tax reforms favorable to the working-classes. He has also advocated for improving vocational training options.

An animal lover, he supports no-kill shelters. However, in November 2021, he lost the mayoral election to Eric Adams.

Curtis Sliwa has had four marriages. Though nothing much is known about his first wife, it is believed she was a Black woman he met at a party, as a 19-year-old, at the Stapleton Houses in Staten Island.

Sliwa was married to his second wife, Lisa Evers, from 1981 till their divorce in 1995. Lisa served the Guardian Angels as its National Director and was also a co-host of a radio show named Angels in the Morning. Lisa has been a martial artist, too.

Following his divorce from Lisa, he got married to his third wife, Mary Galda, in 2000, but they divorced in 2012. Mary previously worked with WABC and later served as National Director of the Guardian Angels. The couple had a son, Anthony Chester.

He married his fourth wife, Nancy Regula, an animal activist and attorney, in July 2018. Sliwa and Nancy now live on the Upper West Side with their 15 rescue cats.

Sliwa has also been in a relationship with lawyer, politician, and Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz. The couple broke up in 2014. He fathered two children with her, though they were conceived in vitro.

In 2010, Sliwa was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He declared his diagnosis in April 2011. Sliwa is a Roman Catholic.

Curtis Sliwa is known for his unique fashion sense, often sporting a signature red beret as part of his everyday attire.

He is a self-proclaimed lover of animals, having founded the Guardian Angels animal protection program to help rescue and care for abandoned pets.

Sliwa is a published author, having written several books on topics ranging from crime prevention to his personal experiences.

In addition to his work in radio and politics, he has also dabbled in acting, making cameo appearances in various films and TV shows.

Sliwa is a dedicated advocate for civil liberties and has been involved in various campaigns to protect individual rights and freedoms.