Candidates News

By Vickie Paladino

The title of this article may sound dramatic, but it’s sadly and terrifyingly accurate. The fact is that New York City is now at a point where we’re either going to make some kind of change in how our government is run, or we’re going to continue our rapid slide into bankruptcy, lawlessness, and despair. This is a hard truth everyone needs to come to terms with.

The de Blasio era has been catastrophic for NYC, there’s no denying that. We have seen our economy destroyed, skyrocketing homelessness, open hostility to small business and homeowners, and a crime rate that has spun completely out of control. And all these trends were firmly in place before COVID hit.

Post-COVID, our single-party government took a difficult situation and turned it into a generational tragedy. The incompetence, ignorance, and naked malevolence of de Blasio, Cuomo, and our ruling party was on full display. They immediately and enthusiastically used the excuse of COVID to claim extraordinary dictatorial powers over our lives, and then used those powers to make everything worse. We’ve seen riots, looting, murder, and the total unplugging of our economy. Meanwhile ordinary citizens who resisted these destructive policies were targeted for prosecution, even as the doors of our prisons were swung open to release violent criminals back onto our streets scot-free.

New York is now hemorrhaging jobs, money, and taxpayers as citizens wake up to the fact that red states like Florida and Texas could be better options for people seeking a life of prosperity, security, and liberty. Needless to say, this is unsustainable for our city and our community.

We have one final chance to begin the hard work of turning things around. Our local elections in 2021 will quite literally determine whether our city returns to its former glory, or if we become another Portland, Seattle, or San Francisco — a once great city, now wracked with nightly riots, homelessness and drugs, and utterly paralyzed with corrupt single-party authoritarian rule by a bizarre quasi-religious progressive cult too obsessed with malignant identity politics and hatred of western civilization to solve even the most basic of municipal issues.

This is not an exaggeration. This is the choice we face. That’s where we’re headed. And I’m running for City Council along with other great candidates like Curtis Sliwa for Mayor to help bring about the change we all so desperately need.

It won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight. We have a lot of work to do, and we expect a fight every step of the way.

The GOP may not ever be a majority party in New York City — at least not anytime soon — but even relatively modest success in 2021 will be massively significant in the direction this city takes, in terms of desperately needed police funding, crime prevention, economic development, and tax relief for small businesses and homeowners. We must break the monopoly. I hope you’ll join me in our fight.

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Vickie Paladino is a Republican candidate for New York City Council, CD #19, and President of the Whitestone Republican Club.

New York Post. By Carl Campanile February 21, 2021 

The Staten Island Republican Party has endorsed Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa for mayor.

The backing of the island GOP’s Saturday night is a coup for the red beret-wearing Sliwa, as the island GOP is the strongest, most organized Republican organization in the otherwise Democratic city.

“The members of the Staten Island Republican Party are concerned with the current trajectory of the City of New York. Today we make the first step to take back our City,” said newly elected island Republican Party chairman Anthony Reinhart.

Other GOP candidates in the running include taxi-bodega advocate Fernando Mateo and financier Sara Tirschwell.

Billionaire business mogul John Catsimatidis is strongly considering a second run for City Hall after losing the GOP primary to Joe Lhota in 2013. Petitioning to get on the ballot is March 2, so he’ll have to decide soon.

“The Staten Island Republican Party interviewed all candidates who responded to our call … Curtis Sliwa was the clear choice to be our candidate, and we are enthusiastic to support him as he brings his vision on how to save our City and protect Staten Island’s quality of life,” Reinhard said when asked about Catsimatidis.

Sliwa, who recently filed paperwork for his candidacy, said he will step aside if Catsimatidis jumps into the race.

Catsimatidis owns 77 WABC Talk Radio and Sliwa has his own radio program on the network — which means Catsimatidis is his boss.

“I’m honored to receive the endorsement of the Staten Island Republican Party. This is the body that rescued this city twice, first with Rudy Giuliani and then with Mike Bloomberg,” Sliwa said.

“Right now, with our city facing a crime crisis and the precipice of fiscal calamity, I’m looking forward to working with Republican leaders from all over the city to save it.”

While Democratic candidates have been talking about reining in the NYPD, Sliwa and his Guardian Angels safety patrol group have been visiting and patrolling subway stations and other locations that have seen spikes in crime.

On Saturday, Sliwa stumped outside Bay Ridge train station where an elderly man was mugged on the subway platform.

“The paramount issue is crime and public safety. Without addressing that, nothing else happens,” Sliwa said.

“Public safety is my strength. It’s been my whole life.”

Staten Island has a GOP congresswoman with Rep. Nicole Malliotakis. Other Republican elected office-holders include Borough President James Oddo, state Sen. Andrew Lanza, Council members Joseph Borelli and Steven Matteo, and Assembly members Michael Reilly and Michael Tannousis.

Former President Donald Trump carried the borough over President Biden in last fall’s election.

Strong votes on the island helped elect Rudy Giuliani twice and Michael Bloomberg three times as mayor when they ran under the GOP banner.

Curtis Sliwa is the only Mayoral candidate fighting subway crime & calls on “Limousine Liberal” candidates to join him riding the trains daily.

Releases flyer telling riders how to stay alive underground.

WATCH HERE: