By Rich Bockmann
Curtis Sliwa’s love-spurned ex-wife claimed in court papers last week that the Guardian Angel and Borough President Melinda Katz concocted an unbelievable story about the method by which the Queens politician conceived her children in order to pull a fast one on borough voters.
In a lengthy and colorfully worded lawsuit filed against the beret-wearing radio host and the Queens Democrat, Mary Sliwa asserted that a 2012 exclusive in the New York Post revealing Curtis Sliwa to be the father of Katz’s two young boys was planted by the couple as a way to boost her political profile as she prepared to run for borough president.
Katz served in the state Assembly and the City Council, where she headed the powerful Land Use Committee. She also worked in Queens Borough Hall before taking some time out of the public eye to raise her young children.
“That awful story was designed to conceal the truth, to legitimize their affair and to dupe the Queens electorate so that Melinda Katz’s political career was not derailed by these deliberate out-of-wedlock births and the circumstances surrounding them,” Mary Sliwa wrote in court filings, which seek to recoup some of the $518,000 Curtis paid to Katz in child support since 2008.
A spokesman for Katz said Mary Sliwa’s motivation for the suit was to gain leverage in a separate Family Court case against Curtis seeking payments from their divorce settlement.
“The only thing that should matter in this situation is protecting the children affected, something Curtis’s ex-wife clearly cares nothing about,” spokesman Nathan Smith said. “Mary is only driven by greed and when she can’t extract more money from Curtis she lashes out about ancient history. She should be ashamed.”
Katz gave birth to her first son, Carter, in 2008 and two years later she had her second, Hunter, claiming after both deliveries that her sons were conceived using frozen sperm from a former, unnamed boyfriend.
The two told the Post they first met in 1993 when then 27-year-old Katz was making her first bid for state Assembly and later began dating casually.
It was in 1998, the pair claimed, that Katz asked Sliwa to make a sperm donation after she had an ovary removed.
The couple told the newspaper they had drifted apart by 2000 when Sliwa married his third wife, Mary.
But Mary Sliwaa contended that was a lie. She claimed in court documents that as head of operations at the Guardian Angels, she had access to her husband’s voicemail, where she found numerous messages Katz left Sliwa documenting their ongoing love affair, including a pre-wedding tryst.
Mary Sliwa said it was ridiculous to think Katz used frozen sperm when she and Curtis were physically involved.
“No sane person would believe that Katz used ancient sperm when she was frequently and repeatedly” sleeping with Curtis, Mary Sliwa wrote.
Katz’s spokesman said Mary Sliwa’s claim crossed the line.
“Mary’s disgusting comment about the method of conception of Melinda’s children is not only a bald-faced lie but is far over the line of any civil discourse,” he said.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
