Curtis Sliwa's Tiny Apartment Is Filled With Rescue Cats, and We Are Not Mad About It

There is a lot to unpack when it comes to Curtis Sliwa, the Republican who has run for mayor of New York City two times. You'll always be able to spot Sliwa in a crowd due to his signature red beret. For the unaware, the red beret is worn by members of the Guardian Angels. The nonprofit organization was founded by Sliwa and is focused on fighting crime in the streets of New York City. They are often referred to as vigilantes.

Sliwa is kind of a character who honed his public speaking skills during his decades-long radio career on WABC-AM. He has about a thousand stories, including one about the time he survived a shooting in a stolen New York City taxi. John A. Gotti, son of mob boss John Gotti, was the only person charged with the attack. There is also an endearing side to Sliwa, who is a huge fan of rescuing cats. He and his wife live in a tiny apartment with a whole bunch of critters. Let's get into it.

In June 2021, Sliwa gave the New York Post a tour of his tiny apartment. At the time, he had 15 cats, but that number grew to 17. As of September 2025, it was sitting firmly at six, per CNN. Sliwa and his wife, Nancy Beth Sliwa, live in a 320-square-foot studio apartment on the Upper West Side. It has three windows that face the street, and as The Post put it, they were perfect for cats who are into bird watching.

In terms of decor, there are almost as many cat-related household items as there are pieces of furniture for humans. Several cat condos crowd the small space, and as any cat owner knows, the floor is likely always covered in cat toys. The reporter for The Post commented about the apartment's smell. One might think the odor of cat feces and urine would overpower everything else, but they could smell fresh kitty litter. That's the mark of a good cat person.

There was a reason why Sliwa and his wife had so many cats back then. They were all scheduled to be euthanized by the city's Animal Care Center before they took them in. The sleeping arrangements can get complicated, but this was a temporary setup while the Sliwas worked to get most of the cats adopted. They planned on keeping the less healthy ones as well as the older cats, who would be harder to adopt out.

Despite the fact that President Trump and Sliwa go way back, having come up in New York City at the same time, the president refused to endorse the Republican mayoral candidate. CNN reported that while appearing on Fox & Friends, Trump said, "I’m a Republican, but Curtis is not exactly prime time." He went on to say, "He wants cats in Gracie Mansion. We don’t need to have thousands of cats."

Sliwa was asked by CNN's Dana Bash about the president's comments. "The president has made fun of the work that my wife and others have done in their lives to rescue animals in distress," said Sliwa. "Mahatma Gandhi said, 'A society that does not take care of its animals does not take care of its people.'"