Curtis Sliwa
The founder of the red-bereted Guardian Angels, he built a citizen patrol empire from a single subway car and later channeled his confrontational style into New York politics.
Born 1954 (age 72)·American politician and talk radio show host·Birthday: March 26·Baby Boomers
Biography
Curtis Sliwa invented his public persona from the ground up. In 1979, frustrated by crime on the New York City subway, he and a small band of volunteers donned red berets and began patrolling the trains as the Guardian Angels. The group, part street theater and part earnest vigilante force, captured the city's imagination and grew into an international organization. Sliwa, with his radio-ready voice and knack for publicity, became its permanent face and chief spokesman. His life has been a series of dramatic chapters: surviving a mob-ordered assassination attempt, a high-profile marriage and divorce, and a shift into conservative talk radio. In his later years, he translated his brand of pugnacious, street-smart activism into two unsuccessful runs for Mayor of New York, cementing his status as a permanent, contentious fixture in the city's landscape.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Curtis was born in 1954, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Curtis Was Born
The biggest hits of 1954
#1 Movie
White Christmas
Best Picture
On the Waterfront
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Curtis's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1954Born
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1959Started school
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1967Became a teenager
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1970Could drive
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1972Could vote
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1975Turned 21
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1984Turned 30
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1994Turned 40
Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $90,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"The Sign" — Ace of BaseBest Picture: Forrest Gump
2004Turned 50
Indian Ocean tsunami kills over 230,000
Gas: $1.88/galHome: $157,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Yeah!" — UsherBest Picture: Million Dollar Baby
2014Turned 60
Russia annexes Crimea; Ebola outbreak in West Africa
Gas: $3.37/galHome: $160,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Happy" — Pharrell WilliamsBest Picture: Birdman
2024Turned 70
AI reshapes industries; Paris Olympics
Gas: $3.31/galHome: $372,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Espresso" — Sabrina CarpenterBest Picture: Anora
2026Age 72 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Founded the Guardian Angels citizen crime prevention patrol in New York City in 1979, which expanded to chapters worldwide.
- Hosted a nationally syndicated conservative talk radio show, 'Curtis & Kuby,' for over a decade.
- Was the Republican nominee for Mayor of New York City in the 2021 election.
- Authored several books about his experiences with the Guardian Angels and his life.
Did You Know?
He was shot five times in a 1992 assassination attempt ordered by John Gotti of the Gambino crime family.
He was once married to television journalist Mary Albert.
He adopted 15 cats from a shelter and named them all after New York Yankees players.
In his youth, he worked as a night manager at a McDonald's in the Bronx.
“I'm not a vigilante. A vigilante takes the law into his own hands. We're a prevention patrol.”
