Curtis Sliwa's Red Beret Has Been Part of His Look for Most of his Public Life

Following the news that Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, we now know that he'll be facing Republican Curtis Sliwa in the fall. Because New York is a heavily Democratic city, most expect that Mamdani will ultimately prevail, but Sliwa has become a personality unto himself in New York.

One of the reasons he's so well known in New York is the red beret that he's often seen wearing. As it turns out, there's a specific reason he's always wearing the hat. Here's what we know.

Sliwa's red beret is a signifier from decades ago, when he first formed "The Magnificent 13," a vigilante crime-fighting force that was dedicated to combating crime on the New York City subway system. The group was founded in 1977, and as it grew, it was eventually renamed the Guardian Angels. Most members of the group were Black or Hispanic, and they all wore red berets to signal their involvement in the group.

As you might imagine, reactions to the group's formation were strong in both directions. At the time, New York City was experiencing a crime wave. Members of the Guardian Angels were unarmed and were required to train in karate and to understand the legal requirements for a citizen's arrest. Although the group did earn praise from some prominent corners, Sliwa eventually admitted that they had faked some of their most famous heroic acts for publicity, per The New York Times.

He said, though, that he felt that the incidents that the group had staged had led to some real improvements.

After founding the group, Sliwa went on to have a career in right-wing radio, and he is now mounting his second consecutive Republican campaign to become mayor of New York. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his 2025 campaign has a heavy focus on crime in the subways, which he obviously has a history of caring about.

Although he has maintained a following in right-leaning circles for decades, Sliwa's founding of the Guardian Angels was just the beginning of a career in which he often courted controversy. His radio show has featured incendiary remarks and guests, and he was arrested in 2023 for staging an anti-illegal immigration rally in New York.

Now, though, he's pivoting to a general election in which he'll face a massive uphill battle to be elected mayor. Zohran Mamdani is a Democratic Socialist, but he also won a contentious primary, coming from out of nowhere to beat several much more prominent candidates in the field.

Mamdani's election as New York's next mayor is far from a sure thing, but it's going to be interesting to see how the race ultimately shakes out. Will any independent candidates, including Andrew Cuomo or current mayor Eric Adams, enter the ring? Given that Mamdani beat both of them in the Democratic primary, it seems like a possibility.