Republican mayoral hopeful Curtis Sliwa is drawing fierce criticism for stubbornly staying in a race that many warn could hand New York City to a radical socialist bent on dismantling the economic foundations of America’s largest metropolis. Sliwa, speaking Sunday on WABC’s “Cats Roundtable,” noted that Zohran Mamdani — a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist — has surged thanks to a powerful digital campaign targeting younger voters, but said his win his ultimately Mayor Adams’ fault. Mamdani, once a blip at just 1% in February, has since clinched the Democratic nomination and is poised to lead a city synonymous with free enterprise and capitalism. “There is no Zohran Mamdani if Eric Adams had done a decent job,” Sliwa argued, seeking to shift blame onto the embattled mayor. But critics say Sliwa’s refusal to drop out of the race — even as Adams runs as an independent — will fracture opposition votes and all but guarantee Mamdani’s victory. While billionaire grocery magnate John Catsimatidis is rallying wealthy donors to fight Mamdani’s push for government-run supermarkets and a far-left economic vision, Sliwa is defiant. “Unless they figure out a way to put me in a pine box and bury me six feet under,” he told Catsimatidis, “I’m not going anywhere.” Observers say that stance amounts to political malpractice. By clinging to a candidacy with slim prospects, Sliwa risks clearing the path for Mamdani to remake New York in a socialist mold — a move that could devastate business, drive out investment, and permanently alter the character of the city. Instead of working to build a broad coalition to stop Mamdani’s radical agenda, Sliwa seems intent on pursuing a personal crusade, even if it means presiding over the ashes of a once-thriving economic powerhouse. Ultimately, history may remember Curtis Sliwa not as the crime-fighting Guardian Angel, but as the enabler who handed New York City to a hard-left ideologue on a silver platter. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)