Curtis Sliwa poses for a photo with supporters in Queens during the 2025 NYC mayoral election. The veteran New York gadfly is enjoying a moment of TikTok popularity. Curtis Sliwa for Mayor Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Every night, before bedtime, Curtis Sliwa and his wife have a ritual: They watch an episode of The Office and listen to some EDM. "It's just a real mood elevator," said the two-time NYC mayoral candidate, who is partial to the German twentysomething deejay BUNT but listens to a wide range of artists in the genre. Sliwa, 71, was sitting in an Upper West Side diner on a recent weekday afternoon. Fresh off a drubbing at the polls - his 7 percent was the lowest total for a Republican in nearly 50 years - the Guardian Angels founder bore the look of someone who won. In a way, he had. For decades known primarily to New Yorkers as reassuring tough guy and - thanks to his sometimes-shameless antics on local TV and radio - object of parody, Sliwa has lately found unlikely national celebrity as a social media folk legend. Many of his stunts, both new and vintage, have recently gone viral on TikTok, and an SNL sketch in November satirizing his debate with Andrew Cuomo and mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani racked up more views on YouTube, 7.1 million, than any other clip from the show this season. Related Stories News New York Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani Plans Star-Studded New Year's Day Inaugural Party Movies Zohran Mamdani's Filmmaking Mother Mira Nair on Raising New York's Next Mayor Sliwa is the latest product of this strange, authenticity-seeking moment: a Boomer who, just by being the same blusterily quotable guy he's always been, has found the culture working its way to him. Die a hero, or live long enough to become Gen Z's swaggering grandfather. "They see that I'm a rebel with a cause," said Sliwa, whose trademark red beret had returned after a brief, jarring absence during the campaign. "I'm an outlier; I've never been mainstream. I went out to the districts where the Zohranistas were," he continued, using his go-to coinage for Mamdani supporters. "And even when they would say they didn't vote for me, they would say they respected me. They would say 'I get what you do.'" What Sliwa has done involves a strange mix of caricature and crusader - he's a pro-police economic populist - and contradiction. Whenever you think you have Sliwa pegged, he flashes a surprise. He's a law-and-order Republican who worries about climate change and animal welfare; he's a streetwise working-class kid who loves EDM. (He picked it up observing the 1980's rave scene in Europe while training new Angels.) This reinforces the fame. Who cares you were eviscerated at the polls and recently quit your job? (Sliwa last month ended a decades-long run as a WABC radio host after clashing with station owner John Catsimatidis over the latter's support of Cuomo.) Maverick sells. A teenage boy outside the diner spotted Sliwa through the windows and burst in. "Mr. Sliwa, my parents voted for you," he said excitedly. "Appreciate that. What's your name?" Sliwa replied, unfolding his imposing frame to stand and greet the boy. "My name's Leo," the teenager replied. "What school do you go to Leo?" Sliwa asked. "I go to Wagner," Leo said. Sliwa's first question upon meeting strangers is where they're from (if they're not native New Yorkers) or what school they went to (if they are), a sorting mechanism that doubles as a bonding tool since he often knows a random fact about it. "Wagner, right on 76th Street," he answered. "Well I'm gonna give you a card Leo. Go ahead, scan that and it will tell you everything you need to know." (The QR code takes you to Sliwa's campaign page, still active with no signs of easing.) Leo asked for a selfie then breathlessly said "I wish you would have won," which Sliwa disarmed with an even-keeled "It's OK" as the boy ran out. "The new generation had very limited knowledge of who I am and what I've done. But this election cycle introduced them," Sliwa said after Leo left. "I'm at the Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village every year, but this year there were all these Curtis Sliwa costumes. Even though they're Zohranistas." The popularity has echoed farther than you'd think. "Anybody met Curtis Śliwa in real life?" a poster recently wrote on the askNYC reddit. "I am from Ireland but somehow over last few weeks I became obsessed with NYC mayoral race and I would love to hear some stories about people who might have met Śliwa in real life." Long before podcasting, Sliwa was practicing a proto form of the art on the radio. For 30 years he tirelessly gabbed with bravado, if not exactly nuance, about anything anyone wanted to talk about, often with an unexpected verbal flair. Perhaps not since H.L. Mencken has anyone roasted a