By Madina Toure
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa says he is definitely running for Queens borough president, a position his ex-partner Melinda Katz currently holds.
Sliwa was encouraged to run for the position when he emceed a Queens Republican Party gala April 11, where he first discussed his plans. But he announced he would oppose the mother of his two children at the Juniper Park Civic Association meeting last week. He would have to move from Brooklyn to Queens and since he is registered with the Reform Party, he would have time to switch to the Republican Party or the party would have to cross-endorse him. Katz is a Democrat.
“They were telling me that I had enough time to get my house in order since I wouldn’t have to file until June,” Sliwa said.
He said that in recent communications with Katz, she has been “very cool, very steely” but that they only talk about their sons, Hunter and Carter.
“Let’s just say it’s warm now,” he said.
Sliwa plans to tackle issues such as the lack of hospitals, graffiti vandals damaging property, the poor condition of the roads in Willets Point and the need for more paving of Woodhaven Boulevard.
But he is particularly focused on what he claims is the corruption in the Queens Democratic Party, targeting U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights).
“I won’t be happy until he’sindicted in the Eastern district…for political corruption like a lot of his previous members,” he said.
Sliwa said Katz bears some responsibility for it.
“I don’t claim she’s corrupt—I know for a fact she’s not—but she oversees the power that keeps Crowley and the others in position,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Katz said she would not comment for the sake of their sons.
“The borough president’s children are now old enough to read the papers and Google their parents’ names,” the spokeswoman said. “As such, the borough president will reserve any further comment at this time.”
Bob Turner, chairman of the Queens Republican Party, urged Sliwa to run, saying he would be “an interesting and fun candidate.”
“It would bring a lot of attention to the Queens race,” Turner said. “He also knows a good deal of all the subjects that are important to us. I think he could make a very good candidate.”
He said the borough president race is usually “fairly dull” and that Sliwa’s entry “would change things.”
“We haven’t nominated anyone, we haven’t vetted anyone, but I would encourage Curtis to go ahead with this and I would be supportive of his efforts,” he added. “I understand that’s a little bit different than getting the nomination at this point but we’ve got a long way to go here.”
Anthony Nunziato, treasurer for the Juniper Park Civic Association, said Sliwa hit on key issues that matter to residents.
“They’re (residents) ready to hear what everyone has to offer and who will do the best job for Queens,” Nunziato said.
Sliwa’s ex-wife, Mary, sued Katz and Sliwa to recoup some of the child support Sliwa paid to Katz.
Katz and Sliwa told the Post in April 2012 that she asked him to make a sperm donation after her ovary was removed in 1998 and that they had grown apart by 2000 when Sliwa married Mary, whom he divorced in 2012.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
