What to Know
- Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has endorsed Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa in this year's mayoral race.
- “When I ran for mayor, Curtis and the Guardian Angels were there to help me win, and then they were there to help me reduce crime and make our city livable again,” Giuliani said.
- Giuliani's endorsement comes while he is under criminal investigation for dealings in Ukraine, which includes work done while he was acting as former President Donald Trump's lawyer.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has endorsed Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa in this year's mayoral race.
In a taped phone message sent to GOP voters, Giuliani referred to Sliwa as “my great friend," urging Republicans to vote for him.
“When I ran for mayor, Curtis and the Guardian Angels were there to help me win, and then they were there to help me reduce crime and make our city livable again,” Giuliani said.
Sliwa, who is running as a Republican, has previously announced plans to step up security efforts within Times Square.
"When I become mayor, crime is priority No. 1. We gotta re-fund the police. And we gotta hire more police and we gotta make them proactive and let them take back the streets, the subways and the parks," Sliwa said.
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Sliwa vowed to hire 3,000 more police officers, saying that he would pay for such a big addition to the NYPD with what he called "a dedicated property tax," on places like Madison Square Garden, Columbia University, NYU and other large institutions.
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He also said they would bring back "stop-and-frisk," a topic not popular among the Democratic candidates.
On the issue of vaccinations, Sliwa has said they would not require them for New York City schoolkids returning to in-person classes come the fall.
Giuliani's endorsement comes while he is under criminal investigation for dealings in Ukraine, which includes work done while he was acting as former President Donald Trump's lawyer.
A federal judge on Friday appointed a special watchdog to review material recently seized from Giuliani as part of the criminal probe. The watchdog, former federal Judge Barbara Jones, will recommend what electronic files of Giuliani's can be seen by prosecutors, and what material should be exempt as evidence because it is protected by attorney-client privilege.
