On Sliwa
By Michael Boyajian
The first time I encountered Curtis Sliwa the founder of the Guardian Angels was at a Rudy Giuliani political event and all the star gazed Young Republicans from New York and around the country were blindly brushing passed the outstretched hands of local Republican leaders as they headed to shake Sliwa’s hand.
The next time I saw him was when I was running for the New York State Assembly and we were doing a lit drop in Bay Ridge. We came across him as he gave a talk on crime in a neighborhood park. He looked at me and my campaign workers and then nodded to two Angels and the next thing you know they were standing behind us. I never did figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
The last time I saw Curtis was as we were rushing along with the crowds in opposite directions in a subway passage around 42nd Street. We made eye contact and he nodded at me but I frowned and looked away because I was mad at all the Bush Administration wrongdoings and was angry with anyone associated with Republicans. Looking back I realize that was wrong of me because Sliwa was a crime fighter not a member of the Bush cadres.
The Guardian Angels were founded in 1977 and thirty three years later Sliwa is still fighting crime while hosting a morning radio show on AM 970. He has certainly become, whether you like it or not, a New York icon after four decades in the public arena.
Brooklyn born Sliwa has had his ups and downs having been shot in a cab by an assassin while on the other hand having accomplished a remarkable feat in organizing 5,000 Angels worldwide. He has fought bad guys from organized crime to school yard bullys. He reports that he took up crime fighting when the New York Police Department said there was nothing they could do about rising crime rates.
A true New Yorker his favorite sports are stickball and baseball and he loves reading newspapers and listening to The Who. I had attempted to contact him to find out his thoughts on President Obama and to ascertain his personal fulfillment after battling crime all these years but as of press time I had no response.
But why am I writing this piece? Because every time I turn my TV on there is an ad for Sliwa’s radio show and he has gotten into my brain!