Chunky Republican New York City billionaire John Catsamatidis on Monday commanded his AM radio station host employee Curtis Sliwa to end his doomed mayoral campaign to give disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo a shot to defeat leftist Dem nominee Zohran Mamdani.

“WABC Radio and Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis, a longtime New York business leader and civic figure, publicly urged Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa to exit the 2025 New York mayoral race, citing concerns that Sliwa’s continued candidacy could split the vote and inadvertently help another candidate. Sliwa, a prominent radio personality who has worked with WABC Radio for decades, is currently on a leave of absence from the station while running for mayor. Catsimatidis said the move is essential to consolidating support behind a ‘viable alternative,’ avoiding what he described as a potentially damaging outcome if the vote remains divided,” said “Cats” in a release.

A new AARP survey of NYC voters found Mamdani leading Cuomo 43 to 29 percent with Sliwa in third at 19 percent, but Mamdani ahead 45 to 41 percent if Sliwa drops out. It’s not clear if this was what got “Cats” to come out against his own guy but it doesn’t seem all that favorable to Cuomo whether you choose to believe it or not. That it says 2 percent of would-be Republican voters in the electorate are going to go to the socialist dude if Sliwa drops out while another 7 percent just aren’t going to show up at all just seems a little too hopium-y for the “Okay fuck it, Cuomo for mayor” voter.

The fact that they’re all “Okay fuck it, Cuomo for mayor” voters while Mamdani fans are pretty freaking hardcore should tell you this is a lost cause but then again so is trying to get a 70-something Greek-American supermarket tycoon worth billions to listen to reason.