Updated April 26, 2:55 p.m.
Curtis Sliwa, the ex-partner of current Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and father of her two children, announced last night that he would run for her seat as a Republican in 2017.
Sliwa, a talk show host on WABC-AM and founder of the international volunteer patrol organization Guardian Angels, attended the Juniper Park Civic Association in Middle Village on Thursday night, where he spoke about the “corrupt” and ineffective Democratic Party, railing on everyone from Mayor Bill de Blasio to Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and Congressman Joe Crowley.
“What is the most corrupt Democratic county in America now?” Sliwa asked the audience. “Does anyone know? Crook [sic] County, Illinois? No, [it] pales in comparison to Queens County, the Democratic corrupt machine.”
He announced the run as a possibility last week at a gala for the Queens County Republican Party, according to DNAinfo. But he made it clear last night to a full house at the Our Lady of Hope auditorium that he would look to run against Katz, with whom he has a very personal history.
As documented in the Daily News, Sliwa donated his sperm to Katz, who had two sons. Sliwa and Katz were also in a personal relationship until they broke up in November 2014.
Though he previously took shots at Katz at the gala, he told the audience that she was one of the only elected officials in office who was not corrupt.
“I know her political bones and where they’re buried,” Sliwa said. “But I can swear to you she’s not corrupt.”
In his speech, which lasted for about half an hour, he questioned the effectiveness of Queens officials on both sides of the political spectrum, mentioning the longtime dilapidation of Woodhaven Boulevard and Willets Point, and the rapid succession of shuttered hospitals in the borough.
“[Queens is] one of the largest, most prosperous boroughs in the city of New York with a growing population, and they’re closing your hospitals left right and every which way,” Sliwa said. “How do they get away with it? They get away with it because they can.”
Sliwa would have to move from his Brooklyn home to Queens to make the run for office.
“I will do what I have to do to make that run for office,” Sliwa said.
A spokesperson for Katz said the current borough president has no comment.
“The Borough President’s children are now old enough to read the papers and Google their parents’ names; as such, the Borough President will reserve any further comment on the father of her children at this time,” said spokesperson Sharon Lee.
