Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Guardian Angels

Guardian Angels

  • ‘Vigilante’ Mayoral Candidate Narrative Obscures History of New York City Resident Patrols

    curtis sliwa cs

    Curtis Sliwa & the Guardian Angels (photo: @CurtisSliwa)


    Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee for New York City mayor, has portrayed himself as a police advocate and crimefighter dating back to his founding of the Guardian Angels in the late 1970s. But the image Sliwa has crafted of himself as the original civilian crimefighter distorts his role with the renegade patrol group.

    While the Angels – a group of largely young African-American and Latino New Yorkers that began patrolling subways – may have been the most ...