Nancy Sliwa Is Running As A Republican Against Gale Brewer On UWS (2024)

Nancy, Curtis Sliwa's wife, lists "animal welfare" as one of her top three platform priorities for the Upper West Side.

Posted Mon, Aug 30, 2021 at 10:29 am ET|Updated Mon, Aug 30, 2021 at 10:38 am ET

Nancy has lived on the UWS for eight and a half years. Recently, multiple major publications have drawn attention to the couple's somewhat odd living conditions in their 320 square-foot apartment near West 87th Street.

Notably, the 16 cats that live with Curtis and Nancy.

Animals are a major part of Nancy's life. She serves as the Director of Animal Protection for the Guardian Angels — the crime-prevention group founded by her husband — and lists animal welfare as one the top priorities in her platform for the City Council position.

"Last summer when the homeless were brought in with no transparency elected officials like Helen Rosenthal knew it was going to happen and never told the residents and the results have been disastrous," Nancy told Patch. "Council persons are elected to represent their constituents and not operate in a vacuum. I will be a councilwoman that is transparent because I trust the people to give them the information that impacts them and their community."

The City Council candidate is referring to the 283 homeless men that were moved into The Lucerne hotel in July 2020.

The city did not provide the standard notification process in communicating with residents and local elected officials because the move fell under a COVID-19 emergency transfer due to overcrowding at congregate shelters in Lower Manhattan.

Nancy lists the local parks as her favorite part of the Upper West Side.

"Central Park and Riverside Park are the reason I moved here," Nancy said. "Public parks with such beauty and tranquility create a feeling of peace in a fast-paced city like New York. And the fact that anyone and everyone can come to the Parks and enjoy them is a great equalizer for all New York City residents."

Nancy is running against Brewer, the current Manhattan Borough President, who won the Democratic primary in June by a landslide and held the City Council District 6 position for 12 years before Rosenthal.

Brewer is the heavy favorite in the race.

Here's what Nancy lists as the central part of her platform in the race to represent the Upper West Side.

"1) Animal Welfare - Promoting no kill shelters, organizing outdoor cats into colonies to keep them from being brought to the shelters and euthanized as they keep the number of rodents down. Several years ago, I brought this plan to Rosenthal’s office twice and was totally ignored and now its being used throughout United States, in cities like Chicago which has a shortage of outdoor cats because of the high demand for them. The rats have plagued the parks, streets, and playgrounds which children frequent. They pose a danger themselves but the toxic eradication methods being used are equally as dangerous to people and the environment.

2) Homeless and EDP’s - Emotionally Disturbed Persons and homeless are roaming the streets at alarming numbers. This attitude that it’s their civil right to be in the streets is missing the point entirely. When I have done outreach with my husband Curtis and the Guardian Angels and we would speak with them at length and consistently they would request help and relay how nobody was giving it to them. That is an incredibly inhumane way to treat those so desperately in need.
Affordable housing is another key issue. I look at dropping prices all the time for rentals and believe the market forces are working themselves out with supply and demand. There is no reason to consistently be building new units that are economically out of the reach for all but the wealthiest. My candidacy will focus on doing more with less. We must start thinking about one another.

3) Subway Safety — And safety on the subways is crucial. You have EDP who are a danger to themselves and others, homeless who are living on benches in need of help and perverts who constantly sexually harass women. Pressure needs to be put on the NYPD to maintain law and order as well as these social outreach organizations such as ThriveNYC getting over a billion dollars to address exactly this issue."

Patch was not able to find a campaign website for Nancy Sliwa.