New Yorkers are “not safe” if Zohran Mamdani or Andrew Cuomo are elected mayor, Republican rival Curtis Sliwa claimed in a scorching new TV ad focusing on public safety.
“Rapes in broad daylight. Attacks on the subway. Why?” the narrator in the 30-second TV spots released Monday asks.
“Cuomo.”
The ad then recycles a clip of the then-governor touting his support to end the “cashless bail system” in 2018.
Cuomo would later approve a law dramatically curbing cash bail.
“We’re going to end the cashless bail system once and for all,” Cuomo said in 2018 at the Global Citizens festival, a clip shown in the ad.
“We’re going to do it in New York. We’re going to do it this year,” he said.
It wasn’t included in the ad, but Cuomo also said a “cashless bail system violates justice” because it detains poor criminal defendants pending trial simply because they can’t afford to pony up the necessary funds.
Cuomo also said the Rikers Island jail complex was a “hell hole” that had to close.
The Sliwa ad then says, “Worse. Zohran Mamdani wants to go even further [than Cuomo]” with criminal friendly policies.
“With them in charge, you are not safe.”
“We deserve better,” says Sliwa, the founder of the red-beret clad Guardian Angels civic patrol, who appears near the end of the ad.
Sliwa has proposed adding 7,000 cops to the NYPD, if elected mayor.
The Sliwa broadside was released a day after incumbent Mayor Eric Adams announced he would not seek re-election as an independent — and the other candidates are now jockeying to woo the retired NYPD captain’s moderate backers.
Mamdani, the socialist Democratic nominee who defeated Cuomo in the party primary, has distanced himself from prior statements in support of defunding the police and calling cops racist.
Cuomo is now running on the independent “Fight and Deliver” ballot line.
The spot is part of a Sliwa campaign $500,000 ad buy, and is his answer to counter people urging him to exit the race to give Cuomo a better shot to defeat front-runner Mamdani.
It’s Sliwa’s third ad released for the November 4 general election.
Cuomo campaign spokesman Richard Azzopardi fired back, “Cashless bail has not ended in New York.”
He noted the law has been revised several times since it was signed by Cuomo — who resigned in 2021 — to fix problems and give judges more discretion to detain serial or dangerous offenders.
The Cuomo rep also said Sliwa has admitted to fabricating crimes over the years to promote himself and his “vigilante group,” while the Guardian Angels organization has lost its tax-exempt status for transgressions.
Cuomo said he would increase the police force by 5,000 cops, if elected.
“We agree with Curtis Sliwa: Andrew Cuomo is dangerous for New York City,” Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec said in a statement. “Zohran Mamdani is the only candidate who will turn the page on the broken billionaire-backed politics of the past and deliver a city where everyone can afford to live and be safe.”
Read the full article here
