Tricks, Cats, and Crime: How Republican Curtis Pliva Fights for New York Voices

Republican candidate for mayor of New York Curtis Pliva's campaign has so far been replete with press conferences at crime scenes and commercials of him stroking one of his 16 rescued cats. NBC New York.

Here's Curtis Plum during a promotional campaign on television, in his trademark red beret, stroking one of his 16 rescued cats. But we see him on the subway with his Guardian Angels crime patrol. Soon, he already breaks up fights in restaurants in Little Italy and accuses the mayor of the growth of crime in the city.

Man of the people

Plum has been a stunt-loving New York character for decades with a knack for holding the gaze of news viewers. He once survived an attempted mafia attack, provoked by his comments on the radio.

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The Republican insists his campaign this year is just a trial run. It is more like a dash of David and Goliath, where Plum, as a street "man of the people", talks about crime and unrest.

“I'm the only Republican who can visit areas where the only Republican they've ever seen is Abraham Lincoln on a $ 5 bill, and I'm well received,” Sliva said.

“I think most people don't necessarily think of me as a Republican. They see me more as a populist. “This is Curtis. We know him, ”said Plum. He won the Republican nomination, although he never voted for Donald Trump. Plum sees this as a sign that he can defeat the Democrats.

Eric Adams is a strong contender

Many expect Plum to lose next month's election to Brooklyn President Eric Adams, a Democrat and former New York City police captain.

In a city where there are 7 times more Democrats than Republicans, Adams emerged from the Democratic primaries as a candidate with a more moderate image. He is business-oriented and has a distinct (like a Democratic) view of crime through his service at the NYPD.

Pliva, 67, has been an ubiquitous figure in New York since he founded the Guardian Angels crime-fighting group in 1979. An unarmed squad of young men and women in red berets and matching jackets began as a patrol in the New York City subway and expanded to a citywide unit before establishing branches throughout the United States.

The 30-square-meter apartment on the Upper West Side that Sliva shares with his wife, Nancy, is adorned with posters and images of himself and their many cats.

Part of one wall is covered with clippings from old newspapers and posters with stories of the early exploits of the Guardian Angels.

“His analysis of New York is in some way very dated, and I think many voters see him as a relic of old New York with its red beret. I would say he has a very racial understanding of how the city works. I don't think many New Yorkers are interested in this right now, ”said Christina Greer, assistant professor of political science at Fordham University.

Winning the primaries

Earlier this year, Plum won the Republican primaries against restaurateur Fernando Mateo.

Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg's two decades at mayor's office prove that Republicans can (at least once have) overcome the Democrats' advantage in the city.

But Plum's style and reputation, Greer said, means he "isn't really taken seriously by a certain segment of the population."

Plum's flair for getting attention became deadly serious in 1992. He was shot after he used his radio talk show to denounce Mafia boss John Gotti. He escaped from his would-be assassins by jumping out of the car window.

In the aftermath of the actual attack, he confessed that in the past he has composed stories of the Guardian Angels' exploits, including the prevention of rape and the fake story of the abduction of Plum by the Transit Police.

Following lewd and racist remarks on television and radio against the city council leader, he was briefly banned from regularly appearing on a local television debate show. Pliva later apologized for his comments.

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Last summer, Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio banned swimming on the city's beaches to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Then Pliva staged a protest on Coney Island, first gluing a cardboard cutout of de Blasio's face on the beach and throwing sand into it. He then swam for about an hour in a diving suit and a red beret, ignoring the officers' orders to get out of the water.

As a candidate for mayor, he was true to his form

Plum holds press conferences throughout the city almost daily. They often take place at crime scenes, where he condemns the city’s unfortunate leadership.

Plum criticizes Adams for being aloof from the real life of the townspeople and for allegedly vacationing in Monaco, raising funds in the Hamptons and Martha's Vineyard.

Meanwhile, Adams practically did not pay attention to his counterpart.

“It's hard for me to get into a conversation with someone who has admitted to making up crime stories and doing pranks every day,” Adams said in a recent radio interview.