On Monday, Oct. 6, former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, who gained national fame for his leadership following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the city, endorsed Republican Curtis Sliwa, dealing a blow to Andrew Cuomo’s campaign as both candidates work to take out front-runner, the self-described socialist, Zohran Mamdani.
“Here’s my choice: 100 percent Curtis Sliwa,” Giuliani declared on his podcast while sitting beside Sliwa.
The former two-term mayor and Trump attorney criticized Cuomo as an ex-governor who lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani prompting him to run as an independent.
Giuliani expressed dissatisfaction with Cuomo who he said “ran a terrible campaign” during the Democratic primary. Giuliani didn’t mince words, saying Cuomo was “also a governor who resigned in disgrace,” referring to Cuomo stepping down as governor while being bombarded with a number of sexual harassment accusations.
The former-mayor also slammed Cuomo for his performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically when his administration ordered nursing homes to accept infected patients that had been discharged from the hospital right at the peak of the crisis.
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Giuliani said this move led to the “deaths of many, many, many elderly people who were put in nursing homes and didn’t belong there.”
“Blame it on him!” Giuliani exclaimed.
Mamdani an ‘avowed communist’
Giuliani also lashed out at front-runner Mamdani calling him an “avowed communist” and claiming that the Democratic Socialists of America — a group Mamdani is a member of — stands for “everything evil.”
He blasted Mamdani, saying, “He prefers Islamic extremism over America. He prefers Marxist communism over America.”
The former Trump attorney then took aim at Mamdani’s past remarks, in which he allegedly called the New York Police Department “racist.”
“You better get on your knees and apologise for calling them racists! You bum!” Guilani said, adding that Mamdani, “doesn’t belong in America,” despite him being a naturalized citizen.
Guilani said that despite significant pressure from other Republicans to endorse Cuomo over Sliwa, he plans on standing on “principle” and will back longtime New Yorker, Sliwa.
Giuliani remains popular among the city’s Republicans and older moderate or conservative voters — support that could give a boost to Sliwa’s third-place campaign.
Sliwa was thrilled by the endorsement, saying that Giuliani was New York’s “greatest mayor” and that he would strive to be, “Giuliani 2.0.”
Sliwa’s plan to ‘fix New York City’
According to Sliwa’s campaign website he is running on a broad platform promising to work towards increased public safety, making housing more affordable, focusing on fixing the city’s education system, boosting the economy, restoring integrity and reviving the city, among other things.
“City Hall has abandoned local small businesses, prioritizing corporate handouts while mom-and-pop shops struggle under rising costs and crime. My administration will refocus city resources to uplift local businesses—not just mega-corporations—so that working people can thrive,” his website reads.
He argues that despite record spending, outer-borough neighborhoods are being neglected and promises that his administration, in conjunction with the city’s Comptroller, will “route out inefficiencies and corruption” that drain resources from the city’s communities.
His key initiatives include a crackdown on crime, redirecting city incentives from corporate developers to local businesses, auditing city spending, and revitalizing “local downtowns and and commercial districts across the outer boroughs.”
On housing, Sliwa says, “NYC has an affordability crisis. Instead of helping struggling New Yorkers, the city spent billions to house, feed, and provide medical care for migrants—while working-class families and the homeless were left behind.”
To address this, as mayor, he says he would prioritize NYC residents first, ensure there are “safe, humane shelters” for homeless children, families and veterans and will remove the mentally ill homeless from the streets and “get them into treatment facilities.”
Ultimately, he wants to end “political corruption” that he says “profits off homelessness instead of solving it.”
“The city only ‘helps’ when there are contracts and kickbacks involved,” Sliwa says. “That’s why your quality of life never gets better—it’s not profitable for the political elite. As Mayor, I will end the cycle of corruption and put New Yorkers first.”
The New York City mayoral general election is scheduled for Nov. 4, 2025. On election day, polls open at 6:00 am and close at 9:00 pm. Early voting runs from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2.
