Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee in New York City’s mayoral election, offered an apology for past comments widely criticized as antisemitic, describing his ability to acknowledge mistakes as a personal strength as he seeks support among Jewish voters ahead of the general election. Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels and a longtime talk radio personality, has faced renewed scrutiny over remarks in which he portrayed Jews as power-hungry and dependent on public benefits, and claimed antisemitic attitudes were “in his DNA” as a non-Jew. Speaking to The Forward on Tuesday, Sliwa called those statements wrong and said he had apologized before but wanted to restate his regret. “The first person to confront me about that was my wife, who’s a Gentile,” Sliwa said of his 2024 comments about antisemitism running in his DNA. “It was a poor choice of words. What I meant was that these attitudes are absorbed in non-Jewish homes from an early age.” Sliwa, 70, is mounting a second mayoral run after losing to Eric Adams in 2021. Adams, who is seeking reelection as an independent, has made fighting antisemitism a centerpiece of his campaign, while Sliwa is trying to counter Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, whose criticisms of Israel and support for antisemitic protestors have drawn sharp rebukes from Jewish leaders. In the interview, Sliwa criticized efforts to use Mamdani’s anti-Zionist record as a campaign weapon, arguing voters would not be persuaded by what he called “weaponized identity politics.” “Cuomo already dropped B-52 bombs on him that didn’t put a dent in him,” Sliwa said, referring to former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s attacks on Mamdani during the primary campaign. Mamdani, who officially secured the Democratic nomination Tuesday with 56% of the vote, has faced questions over his use of the slogan “globalize the intifada.” Sliwa, while critical of Mamdani’s rhetoric, acknowledged his rival’s strength with younger voters. Sliwa’s own relationship with New York’s Jewish communities is complicated. In past years, he accused Jewish voters of behaving like a bloc that “buys off” politicians and claimed they were “making babies like there’s no tomorrow” to exploit welfare. “I’ve said a lot of things I shouldn’t have,” Sliwa told The Forward. “What I’ve learned in life is the art of apology. You have to understand the hurt that you cause people, and you have to apologize and mean it.” Sliwa pointed to his decades of involvement with Jewish communities, including deploying Guardian Angels to protect Crown Heights during the 1991 riots and again in 2020 after a surge in antisemitic attacks, as evidence of his long-standing commitment to Jewish safety. “When Jews were targeted by hate and people wanted to commit acts of violence, it didn’t matter where they were,” he said. “They could always depend on the Guardian Angels and me.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)