Exclusive– NYC Mayoral Candidate Curtis Sliwa Slams Opponent Eric Adams: ‘He’s Cuomo-De Blasio 2.0’

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Tuesday, New York City Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa blasted his opponent Eric Adams for recent “insensitive” comments, referring to the Democratic nominee as a “sanctimonious hypocrite,” while touting his own “common sense” approach to the city’s many problems and his ability to represent the average New Yorker.

In response to comments by Adams lamenting the closing of the notorious Willowbrook State School, where it was revealed the borough’s most vulnerable residents were abused, starved, and neglected, Sliwa claimed Adams had no excuse for the “offensive” remarks.

“First, age is not an excuse here because he’s not a hipster or millennial who didn’t grow up in that era,” Sliwa said. “He grew up in that era like I did; we called it the Willowbrook era. He’s in his early 60s [and] I’m 67, so he can’t plead ignorance.” 

Calling it a “scene out of a horror film,” Sliwa described the “school” as a mere “cover” for the awful activities that took place within its walls.

“It was like a torture chamber where they did experiments on mostly children and young adults with intellectual disabilities,” he said. 

“To not know they injected them regularly for 12 years with hepatitis injections — like [infamous Nazi physician] Dr. [Josef] Mengele — to see the effects is bad enough,” Sliwa said, “but then to say it was just a few employees!”

Adams, who won the Democratic mayoral primary in June, had said closing the institution was a “mistake” and “overreaction” during an interview on Tuesday’s edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

“We made a big mistake when closing Willowbrook,” Adams said, adding that only “a few employees” harmed patients.

In response, Sliwa claimed that the incident showed Adams’ true colors.

“I think it exposed him as being a person with no compassion,” he said. “Whereas I’ve been the candidate that has constantly been showing compassion both before and throughout the campaign.” 

Sliwa was joined by others who also criticized Adams’ remarks.

Disability Rights New York Executive Director Timothy Clune said Adams’ comments “shocked” him and indicated a lack of understanding of what actually transpired at Willowbrook. 

Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera, whose investigative reporting exposed the horrors of Willowbrook and brought about the ultimate shutting down of the infamous institution, called Adams’ comments “intolerable, insensitive and bizarre,” adding he was “disgusted” by those remarks about the developmentally disabled and highlighting his support for Sliwa.

Noting that the institution was run by the state for forty years, Sliwa said that Adams had little excuse for his supposed ignorance over the matter.

“Adams should know better because at one point in his endless political career he was a state senator in Albany,” he said.

“So he understands how state government works yet he’s acting as if you could have continued to operate this dungeon, this torture chamber, this Dante’s inferno, as long as you got rid of a few employees,” he added.

Sliwa recalled how then-Sen. Robert Kennedy’s calls to close Willowbrook if reforms were not met were largely ignored.

“The state assigned one employee to 50 patients and then, in ‘65, Robert Kennedy visits Willowbrook and the state promised all kinds of reforms including hiring more people and making sure the handicapped individuals were cared for,” he said. 

“That was 1965,” he continued. “Kennedy said if these reforms are not made, you must close it down. He gets assassinated [and as a result, there were] no reforms and it’s actually gotten worse.”

He also criticized Adams’ refusal to apologize for the remarks.

“We all make mistakes in a campaign but the problem with Eric Adams is he is impervious to criticism,” he said. 

“He’s omnipotent, he’s pretentious, and because he has been surrounded by this glow that he is somehow the ‘Moshiach’ [Messiah], the savior of the Democratic Party, the new face — people go out of their way not to criticize him,” he added.

Adams’ Disconnection:

Adams’ residence and whereabouts off the campaign trail have been a source of mystery as he and his team have committed to avoid sharing details of his personal life and travels.

After it was reported that he spent his secretive summer vacation in exclusive Monaco, visiting the iconic Monte Carlo Casino and cruising on a yacht, Adams was accused of “living the high life” on the French Riviera despite campaigning on inequality.

“Now we know why he didn’t want to reveal the location of his vacation,” Sliwa quipped. 

Admitting that “everybody’s entitled to a vacation with his family,” he considered it odd that when Adams took off for a week, his staff would not reveal his location, instead saying he was somewhere in Europe. 

“It was revealed that he went to Monaco,” Sliwa said. “That’s like Robin Leach‘s ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.’” 

“Here’s a guy who’s claiming to be blue-collar [while] I’ve got my connection to people in the streets,” he added.

Contrasting his experience with that of Adams’, Sliwa highlighted his long-standing intimate familiarity with the people of the streets of New York.

“What this campaign has proven, which is a real bizarro situation, is that normally the Republicans are associated with Wall Street, Fortune 500 companies, [and] the one percent,” he said.

“This is in complete reverse,” he added. “You see Curtis Sliwa is constantly in the streets.”

Calling it the “complete opposite” of a “normal” election, Sliwa highlighted his ability to reach those that others cannot. 

“I’ve been able to go into neighborhoods as a Republican, where the only Republican they’ve ever seen is Abraham Lincoln on a $5 bill, and be received and accepted because I’ve been there before many times,” he said.

Accusing Adams of having “no contact with average men and women in the streets,” Sliwa suggested he utilize public transportation to learn about the people’s needs.

“If he just rode the subways, that’s the perfect focus group to get all the feedback needed from average everyday people — both positive and negative,” he said.

“And that’s what I do every day, and I’ve been doing it since I was five years old when I first started riding the subways on my own,” he added.

He described Adams’ presentation of being “the blue-collar guy” and being able to understand the “problems of blue-collar working-class people in the five boroughs” as bogus.

“The only blue collar he understands is when originally he had to wear the blue shirt as a police officer,” he said, “but then he rose up the ranks and earned the white shirt through civil service testing.”

“He hasn’t identified with the blue collar in decades,” he added. “The blue-collar working-class guy is Curtis Sliwa.”

Claiming to be “out there where Eric Adams doesn’t go,” Sliwa shared his experience in poorer, crime-ridden areas.

“I’ve gone to neighborhoods and public housing projects [in the city’s five boroughs] comprised predominantly of people of color where there have been multiple shootings, and I carry a milk container with Eric Adams’ picture on it and I ask if anyone has seen him because he’s still the Brooklyn borough president even though he doesn’t pay attention to it,” he said. 

“But the people have never seen him and when I tell them he’s running for mayor, they respond, ‘But he hasn’t done the job here in Brooklyn,’” he added. “Some of the older folks who know him get a good belly laugh and say, ‘Eric ain’t been here since he’s been borough president.’” 

But Sliwa says he has been to such areas on numerous occasions.

“I’ve been there dozens and dozens of times so it’s really going to be a match, a challenge, of Curtis’ street cred — which I have throughout this city and that’s what I’m known for — subways and streets,” he said.

“Nobody knows the city better,” he added. 

He noted that despite his background, he has more “street cred” in minority communities than Adams, who is black.

“It’s a natural coalition for [Adams] because in the city everything is based on ethnicity and race and here’s Curtis Sliwa going into these neighborhoods with street cred and Eric Adams avoiding them at all costs because he knows he’s gonna get blowback,” he said.

“If you’re not living the life, they’ll see you as a fraud,” he added. “So he’s not gonna have any pull in the inner city amongst young males.”   

Accusing Adams of being “a sanctimonious hypocrite who doesn’t get it” and “getting wined and dined every day,” Sliwa boasted of using his MetroCard to ride the subway.

“That’s the big difference,” he said.

He then provided an example from the recent Jewish Sukkot festival which signified the opposing approaches of the two candidates.

“You see Eric Adams with the big ‘machers’ [influential individuals] at a Sukkos celebration behind closed doors with Gov. [Kathy] Hochul,” he said. 

“Whereas, you see Curtis Sliwa in the streets of Borough Park and Crown Heights dancing into the wee hours of the morning with all the people,” he added. 

Calling Adams’ conduct during the festival “typical,” Sliwa accused his opponent of becoming “insulated from average everyday people, even to the point where he can’t even acknowledge where he lives.” 

“If you can’t even be honest about where you reside, how are you gonna be honest about anything else in your mayoral administration?” he asked. 

Stating Adams does not reside where he claims to, Sliwa compared his opponent to the hidden character of the famed search-and-find children’s book series Where’s Waldo?

“I went all the way out to Fort Lee to find his residence,” he said. “He co-owns an apartment out there with I guess you could call his partner, [and] insists he’s not out there.” 

“Well, the question then becomes like Waldo, where are you?” he said, “You can’t account for where you are.” 

Sliwa maintained that Adams’ conduct would only worsen in the event of his election.

“There’s intrigue, there’s enigma, there’s mystery, and I’m telling [you] it will only get worse if the city elects him mayor,” he said. “He’ll become even more insulated, feeling he is entitled because he has been anointed.”

“He really views himself as the savior of the Democratic Party,” he added. 

He also slammed Adams’ “brazenness” for boasting of a ten-year plan to run for president while fundraising in flashy locations like the Hamptons and Martha’s Vineyard.

“The last guy we had, this ‘gavone’ [Mayor Bill] de Blasio, obviously had a plan that he never talked about and then went off for four months like Don Quixote swinging at windmills,” he said. “He got no votes, no support, and, quite frankly, the city was run better in his absence in the four months he was away.”

“We’re gonna have to repair all the damage inflicted on the city by his friend and political mentor Bill de Blasio,” he added. “How are you gonna have time to think about running for president?” 

Sliwa also criticized Adams’ embrace of SkyBridge Capital founder and short-lived former Trump administration staffer Anthony Scaramucci.

“Another distinction between him and me was apparent when he recently spoke with heavy hitters at a conference sponsored by Scaramucci, who is probably the most detested and loathed individual by all — both Democrats and Republicans — and yet embraced by Eric Adams,” he said.

Having made Scaramucci the keynote speaker, according to Sliwa, Adams told the gathering of Fortune 500 executives that after becoming mayor, he would travel to Florida and tell people to return to New York “‘or I’m gonna kick your butts back there’ or words to that effect.”

“Essentially, he said he’s gonna go down there to try and convince people who’ve already left to come back to New York,” Sliwa said. “That’s futile.” 

“That’s just like Joe Montano, who won the Super Bowl for the San Francisco 49ers, saying, ‘I’m going to Disney World,’” he joked. 

In contrast, Sliwa detailed his plans immediately after being elected.

“On January 2nd, Curtis Sliwa as mayor will go to every precinct and shake as many hands of the patrolling police officers in blue, men and women, to boost their morale because their morale is at an all-time low,” he said.

Sliwa also reiterated his ability to relate to the people of New York.

“Curtis Sliwa is in the streets with the peeps; Eric Adams is in the suites with the elites,” he quipped. 

Homeless Crisis:

Addressing the city’s vulnerable population, Sliwa compared his “compassionate” approach to that of Adams.

“There’s a clear difference [in approaches]: mine is surrounded in compassion for the emotionally disturbed persons, the homeless people, and [even] the animal community because I’m the first candidate ever to run on the platform of no-kill shelters,” he said.

“With Eric, though, never; not a moment of compassion,” he added. “And that’s why I think people have reacted to my campaign positively, saying, ‘this is the way you’ve always been.’”

He then described a recent viral clip of him in a dialogue with an “emotionally disturbed gentleman” who had apparently been living in Penn Station since the original lockdown. 

“People were amazed at how I handled him because he came up, he was very hostile and aggressive but I’ve been doing this for 42 years as leader of the Guardian Angels,” he said. 

“I befriend these people, have conversations with them, [and] find out about their background,” he added. 

Claiming that he was able to elicit where the man was recently hospitalized and what medications he was supposed to be on, Sliwa explained how to utilize such information to assist such individuals.

“You make sure you have people who are just as aware that you need to befriend these people and they need to trust you,” he said.

According to Sliwa, after transporting them to a mental health care facility, “if two separate psychiatrists evaluate them, they can be held for 90 days under observation and it gives you a chance to begin to repair them.” 

During that time, he added, patients would be given “clean clothes, food, and a place to stay that’s comfortable — not living in the bowels of the subway or in the parks or streets.”

“You can repair these human beings because they’re simply lost souls,” he said. “This is all common sense.”

Common Sense:

Sliwa explained how his “common sense” approach is the ultimate contrast with that of Adams’.

“I think the best way of comparing my campaign to Eric Adams’ is ‘common sense,’” he said. 

“From dealing with the emotionally disturbed to the homeless to even the recent flooding that we’ve had because of the severe weather, Eric Adams repeats the mantra of all Democrats: ‘it’s global warming, climate change,’” he added. 

Sliwa, “representing the average people,” claimed he had long demanded cleaning out the sewers and catch basins “which hasn’t been done in more than five years,” in order to prevent the death and destruction caused by recent flooding.

“Flush them and backflush them and you won’t have these problems,” he said.

“Again, Curtis Sliwa presents a common-sense solution to the problem, while Eric Adams just wants to continue the status quo,” he added. “So to me, he’s [Andrew] Cuomo-de Blasio 2.0.” 

He then warned that if people were unhappy with “the worst governor and the worst mayor in our history, Cuomo and de Blasio,” by electing Eric Adams, “you’re just gonna get more of the same.” 

“It’s Cuomo-de Blasio 2.0,” he said, “whereas if you elect Curtis Sliwa, you’re going to get common-sense approaches to all these prevailing problems.”

Debates:

Stating he’s “more than happy” to debate the Democratic mayoral nominee, Sliwa hopes for more time to do so. 

“It should be four debates, one each week leading up to the election,” he said. “People are entitled to know who these two candidates are and what issues we agree on and what issues we disagree on.”

Due to matching funds, he explained that at least two televised debates would be required.

“[Adams] can’t duck any longer; he can’t hide; he’s gotta get in there for an hour,” he said. 

Sliwa stated that he intends to confront Adams over his past relationship with racist Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan

“The first question out of my mouth that no journalist and none of the Jewish leaders that he’s met with has asked him will be, ‘Tell us about that five-year period in your life where you were mesmerized by Farrakhan,” he said. 

“Eric Adams has never been asked that on the record, ever,” he added, “and there’s a history of it.”

However, according to Sliwa, the media has conducted a “coronation.” 

“As someone who has followed politics on both the Democratic and Republican side, who’s worked in campaigns on both sides, I’ve never seen this before where story after story proclaims Adams ‘the next mayor of New York,’” he said. “It’s like a propaganda drone.” 

“I tell everybody out there, I’ve always been David versus Goliath, and I’ve always overcome the odds,” he added. “Don’t go to sleep on Curtis Sliwa.”

Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.