Defiant GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa insists on staying in NYC mayoral race

He wants to be New York’s guardian angel.

Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa defiantly insisted that he’s not going anywhere Thursday — as calls mount for him to drop his longshot bid over fears of socialist Zohran Mamdani’s surging campaign.

The pressure campaign on Sliwa amped up as Mamdani surprisingly trounced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday’s Democratic primary — and both the Guardian Angels founder and the Queens assemblyman will face Mayor Eric Adams in November.

“I’m focused on one thing: winning this race and saving New York City from the corruption and collapse he created,” Sliwa told The Post of Adams on Thursday.

“He’s not running against a fantasy. He’s running against me. I’m the only one capable of beating Zohran Mamdani and I’m going to do it.”

Sources said Adams, who is running as an independent, hasn’t given up his Hail Mary hope of taking over Sliwa’s spot on the coveted GOP party line in the general election.

Adams has been gunning “big time” for Sliwa’s spot as recently as Wednesday, and even told bigwig donors that the red beret-wearing vigilante was dropping out for a job in the Trump administration, according to the sources.

But Sliwa scoffed at the idea.

“It’s laughable that Eric Adams is telling donors I’m headed to the White House,” he said. “He’s clearly panicked.”

Republicans, big business leaders and even some moderate Democrats are panicked over the prospect of Mamdani sailing to victory against a divided field of opponents: Sliwa, Adams, independent Jim Walden and perhaps even a stubborn Cuomo also running as an independent.

---

Follow The Post’s coverage of the NYC mayoral race

---

Even if Cuomo does end up deciding to carry on his campaign, sources said he’s viewed as a loser unlikely to stop Mamdani.

But Adams viewed Mamdani’s victory as a way to resurrect his own waning re-election hopes, casting himself as the best chance to stop the socialist from winning, sources said.

Likeminded big donors have also been pushing to get Sliwa a job in the Trump administration to clear the lane for Adams, sources told Post financial correspondent Lydia Moynihan.

Grabbing the GOP line would make Adams’ task easier, but many hurdles remain.

According to an obscure New York election law that aims to stop party jumping, Adams would need to gain the backing of three out of five Republican county chairs, or Sliwa would have to die, be named a judge or move out of New York City for Hizzoner to take the GOP nomination.

A GOP insider said Adams was “big time” trying to boot Sliwa, with no success.

“It’s immense pressure,” the insider said Thursday. “(Adams) is still calling around to county chairs as recently as yesterday… They are telling him no, he has his chance and they are behind Curtis.”

But Staten Island Republican Chair Michael Tannousis said he hasn’t heard about Adams’ overtures, making it unlikely the mayor’s machinations will work.

The island is the backbone for the Republican party in the city, and Sliwa easily carried it over Adams when the two faced off in 2021’s mayoral election.

Adams ended up trouncing Sliwa, carrying 67% of the vote to the Republican’s 28%.

John Catsimatidis, a billionaire Republican and ally of Adams, said Sliwa is unlikely to budge.

“I don’t think Curtis is getting out,” he said.