Curtis Sliwa Net Worth, Age, Wife, Salary & Career (2026)

Curtis Sliwa Net Worth, Age, Wife, Height, Salary & Career (2026)

Curtis Sliwa has an estimated net worth of $200,000 in 2026. The American anti-crime activist, Guardian Angels founder, WABC radio host, and two-time Republican candidate for New York City mayor has built a decades-long public career centered on crime prevention, talk radio, and conservative politics — but his personal finances reflect a life focused on public service rather than wealth accumulation. His primary income comes from his radio hosting salary at WABC-AM 770, which reportedly sits in the low-to-mid six-figure range after a steep pay cut from approximately $688,000 to $120,000 per year in the early 2010s.

Curtis Sliwa Net Worth in 2026

Curtis Sliwa’s net worth is estimated at approximately $200,000 as of 2026. This figure reflects his combined assets — primarily cash in personal bank accounts and modest retirement savings — minus his significant liabilities, most notably an estimated $530,000+ in child support arrears owed to his third ex-wife, Mary Paterson (Galda). Unlike many other New York City political figures — such as John Catsimatidis (net worth: $4 billion), former mayor Michael Bloomberg (net worth: $96 billion), or even Eric Adams — Sliwa has never accumulated significant personal wealth. He owns no real estate, no vehicles, and reports no major investment accounts. His financial profile is that of a career activist and radio personality who has consistently prioritized public visibility and community engagement over personal wealth building.

Curtis Sliwa Profile Summary

Curtis Sliwa Financial Snapshot

Curtis Sliwa Salary and Income

Curtis Sliwa’s primary source of income is his career as a talk radio host on WABC-AM 770 in New York City. WABC is one of the most historically significant AM radio stations in the United States, having served as the flagship station of the ABC Radio Network and home to legendary hosts including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Don Imus. The station is owned by Red Apple Media, which is part of the Red Apple Group conglomerate controlled by billionaire John Catsimatidis.

Beyond his radio income, Sliwa does not report any outside employment, consulting roles, paid board positions, or business income. He supplements his salary with occasional media appearances on cable news networks including Fox News, Newsmax, and NY1, as well as sporadic speaking engagements. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median annual salary for radio and television announcers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area is approximately $55,000 — Sliwa earns well above the median, but far below the top-tier radio talent in major markets like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Curtis Sliwa Early Life and Education

Curtis Sliwa was born on March 26, 1954, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. He comes from a Catholic family of Polish and Italian ancestry and grew up with two sisters. Brooklyn in the 1950s and 1960s was a predominantly working-class borough with large immigrant communities — Italians, Irish, Polish, and Jewish families formed the backbone of neighborhoods like Canarsie, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, and Flatbush. Sliwa was initially educated at Brooklyn Prep, a Jesuit high school that operated in the Crown Heights neighborhood from 1908 until its closure in 1972. The school — run by the Society of Jesus — was known for its rigorous academic standards and produced notable alumni. However, Sliwa was expelled and ultimately graduated from Canarsie High School in southeastern Brooklyn. As a teenager, Sliwa worked for the New York Daily News as a delivery boy. During one of his delivery routes, he rescued several people from a burning building — an act of courage that earned him a trip to the White House. This early act of civic heroism foreshadowed his later career as a public safety advocate.

Curtis Sliwa Height and Physical Stats

Curtis Sliwa stands at 5 feet 8 inches tall (173 cm). His recognizable public image includes his signature red beret — the uniform identifier of the Guardian Angels — and his lean, energetic physical presence that reflects decades of walking New York City streets on patrol.

The Guardian Angels

The Guardian Angels are the organization most closely associated with Curtis Sliwa and the primary reason for his public recognition. Founded in 1979 as the “Magnificent 13”, the group was created in response to the severe crime wave that gripped New York City during the late 1970s. During that period, New York City was experiencing some of the worst crime in its history. In 1979, the city recorded 1,733 murders — nearly six times the 295 murders recorded in 2023. The New York City Subway system, operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), was particularly dangerous, with rampant muggings, assaults, and robberies making the system feared by commuters.

How the Guardian Angels Operate

• Unarmed patrols: Members are trained in martial arts — originally karate — to defend themselves and intervene in crimes without weapons

• Citizen’s arrests: Members are trained in the legal requirements for making lawful citizen’s arrests under New York State law

• Uniform requirement: Guardian Angels must wear their red beret and white T-shirt while on patrol — making them immediately identifiable to both the public and law enforcement

• Community presence: Patrols focus on high-crime areas including subway stations, parks, and commercial districts

Expansion and Controversy

The Guardian Angels attracted both strong support and fierce criticism. New York City Mayor Ed Koch initially opposed the group, viewing them as vigilantes, before eventually supporting them. Lieutenant Governor Mario Cuomo was an early supporter who saw the group as a positive example of community engagement. The organization expanded beyond New York to establish chapters in over 130 cities worldwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, London, Tokyo, and Toronto. Despite the expansion, the Guardian Angels have operated on extremely modest budgets. The nonprofit entity — Alliance of Guardian Angels, Inc. — reported approximately $252,000 in revenue in 2019 and ended the year with zero net assets. Sliwa draws no salary from the organization. In 1992, Sliwa admitted to having fabricated several Guardian Angels rescue incidents for publicity — a revelation that damaged the group’s credibility but did not destroy it. He also admitted to lying about being kidnapped by off-duty transit police officers. Despite these controversies, the organization continued operating and remains active in 2026.

Radio Career at WABC

Curtis Sliwa entered radio broadcasting in 1990, joining WABC-AM in New York City. He spent four years at the station before moving to WNYC (the city’s public radio station, overseen by the New York City Department of Education). He returned to WABC in 1996 as a populist conservative talk show host. His most notable radio program was “Curtis and Kuby in the Morning”, which he co-hosted with liberal attorney Ron Kuby. The show — which featured spirited debates between the conservative Sliwa and the left-leaning Kuby — ran for eight years and became one of the most recognizable morning drive programs in New York City radio. After the show ended, Sliwa hosted “Curtis Sliwa LIVE” and began hosting both morning and evening drive-time shows on WNYM-AM. He eventually returned to WABC, where he continues hosting as of 2026. WABC-AM 770 has a storied history in American broadcasting. The station — originally licensed in 1921 — has been one of the most powerful AM radio signals on the East Coast, serving the greater New York metropolitan area of over 20 million people. The station is currently owned by Red Apple Media, a subsidiary of John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Group, which acquired it from Cumulus Media in 2019.

Political Career

Curtis Sliwa’s political career has centered on New York City politics, with two runs for mayor and involvement in third-party organizing.

Reform Party Takeover (2016)

In 2016, Sliwa engineered a hostile takeover of the Reform Party of New York State — the state affiliate of the national Reform Party originally founded by Ross Perot in 1995. The Reform Party had previously served as a vehicle for candidates like Jesse Ventura (who won the Minnesota governorship in 1998) and Donald Trump (who briefly sought the Reform Party presidential nomination in 2000). Under Sliwa’s leadership, the party lost its ballot access in the subsequent midterm elections.

2021 Mayoral Election

Sliwa switched to the Republican Party and announced his candidacy for New York City mayor in 2020. He won the Republican primary against his former friend Fernando Mateo, a businessman and restaurant industry advocate. The primary battle turned the two into bitter rivals. In the November 2021 general election, Sliwa faced Democratic candidate Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain and Brooklyn Borough President. Adams won decisively in the heavily Democratic city, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by approximately 7 to 1. Sliwa’s campaign raised and spent over $6 million, including approximately $4.2 million in public matching funds through the New York City Campaign Finance Board’s matching program — but these were campaign funds, not personal assets.

2025 Mayoral Run

Sliwa ran again as the Republican nominee for mayor in 2025, continuing his advocacy for public safety, anti-crime measures, and opposition to progressive criminal justice policies.

1992 Assassination Attempt

On June 19, 1992, Curtis Sliwa was kidnapped and shot after entering a stolen taxi near his home in Manhattan’s East Village. Two gunmen shot him in the groin and legs while the vehicle was in motion. Sliwa survived by jumping through the front window of the moving car — an act that likely saved his life. The attack was linked to the Gambino crime family, one of the Five Families of the American Mafia in New York City (alongside the Genovese, Lucchese, Colombo, and Bonanno families). One of the alleged perpetrators was John A. Gotti — son of infamous mob boss John Gotti Sr., who headed the Gambino family from 1985 until his conviction in 1992. Charges against John A. Gotti were dropped after three failed attempts to try him in court. The other suspect, Michael Yannotti, a Gotti associate, was charged but ultimately acquitted. Sliwa has stated that the attack was retaliation for his vocal criticism of John Gotti Sr. on his radio program. The incident became one of the most dramatic real-life crime stories in New York City during the 1990s and further cemented Sliwa’s public persona as a fearless, if sometimes reckless, anti-crime crusader.

Curtis Sliwa Apartment and Living Arrangements

Curtis Sliwa does not own his primary residence. He and his wife, Nancy Regula, rent a one-bedroom apartment on West 73rd Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, with an estimated monthly rent of approximately $3,675. They moved into this unit in 2024 after years of living in a much smaller space — a 320-square-foot rent-stabilized studio on West 87th Street — which Sliwa shared with his wife and up to 16 rescue cats. The Upper West Side — bordered by Central Park to the east, the Hudson River to the west, 59th Street to the south, and 110th Street to the north — is one of Manhattan’s most established residential neighborhoods. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the area exceeds $3,500/month as of 2026, according to StreetEasy and Zillow data. Sliwa has no records of owning property anywhere in New York City or elsewhere. He does not own a car and relies exclusively on public transportation — primarily the MTA subway system and buses — which reinforces his image as an ordinary New Yorker living modestly despite decades of public prominence.

Child Support and Financial Disputes

Curtis Sliwa’s most significant financial liability is his child support obligations. When he divorced his third wife, Mary Paterson (Galda), in 2012, the court ordered him to pay $144,000 per year in child support for their son, Anthony. However, after his radio income dropped sharply — from approximately $688,000 to $120,000 per year — Sliwa reportedly fell behind on payments. Around 2015, he unilaterally reduced his biweekly payments and never caught up, creating a substantial arrears balance. In April 2023, Mary Paterson filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court alleging that Sliwa had accumulated more than $530,000 in unpaid child support. This was not the first time Sliwa’s finances came under legal scrutiny. During his 2013 divorce proceedings, his ex-wife accused him of diverting approximately $405,000 from their marital assets to create a secret “nest egg” for two children he had fathered with Queens Borough President Melinda Katz — an elected official representing one of New York City’s five boroughs. Sliwa denied wrongdoing, and Katz’s representatives called the allegation frivolous, but the episode highlighted the complexity and public nature of Sliwa’s financial disputes.

Curtis Sliwa Wife and Personal Life

Curtis Sliwa has been married four times:

Curtis Sliwa and his current wife, Nancy Regula, are well-known for their devotion to rescue cats. They have housed up to 16 rescue cats in their Manhattan apartments. Sliwa is a vocal animal rights advocate and has used his radio platform to promote pet adoption from ASPCA shelters and local rescue organizations throughout New York City.

Election Financial Disclosures

As a two-time candidate for New York City mayor (2021 and 2025), Sliwa was required to file personal financial disclosure statements with the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board. These filings — required of all candidates participating in the city’s public campaign finance program administered by the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) — detail income, assets, and liabilities. Key findings from Sliwa’s disclosures:

• No significant personal wealth or complex investment holdings reported

• No real estate ownership listed

• No business interests beyond his nonprofit role with the Guardian Angels

• No corporate equity, dividends, or major investment accounts

• Income limited to radio salary and basic personal bank accounts

Business and Investment Holdings

The Alliance of Guardian Angels, Inc. — the nonprofit entity behind the Guardian Angels — is Sliwa’s only formal organizational affiliation. The group’s IRS Form 990 filings from 2019 show:

• Total revenue: approximately $252,000

• Year-end net assets: $0

• Sliwa’s salary from the nonprofit: $0

• Paid compensation for officers/directors: $0

The Guardian Angels have historically struggled to remain financially solvent and have fallen behind on required IRS filings, which at one point jeopardized their 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Sliwa frequently solicits donations through his radio show and public appearances to keep the organization operating.

Curtis Sliwa Net Worth vs. Other NYC Political Figures

Career and Financial Timeline

Frequently Asked Questions