Curtis Sliwa slugged by teen on NYC street
By Tina Moore and Natalie O’Neill
December 4, 2018 | 1:19pm | Updated December 4, 2018 | 7:35pm
Sliwa, 64, told The Post on Tuesday that a teenage thug taunted him over his Guardian Angels’ signature red beret and jacket and then sucker-punched him in the face — knocking out one of his teeth — at Penn Station.
“I let my guard down, and I got popped,” said Sliwa, as the NYPD investigated the attack. “Next thing I knew, I was spitting out my tooth.”
The street vigilante and radio-show host — who in 1992 was shot multiple times in an assumed mob hit — said he was heading home from work at around 7 p.m. Friday when he spotted four teenagers shoving each other.
“These four young guys dropped something on the ground — drugs, I’m assuming — and they were pushing each other,” he said.
He said he stepped in to break up the brawl, but the teens recognized Sliwa thanks to his Guardian Angels gear and began taunting him.
“Our Guardian Angel man. Newark in the house!” one of them mocked sarcastically, in an apparent reference to their hometown, said Sliwa, who began walking away.
One of the thugs ran after him and clocked him without warning, causing him to lose his front left tooth, he said.
“He took it out on me — pow!” Sliwa said. “Then they all scattered into the wind.”
He didn’t get a good look at the young thugs, and no arrests have yet been made.
But the attack isn’t going to stop him from fighting crime, Sliwa said.
“Usually, if there’s a situation, I don’t call 911 and stand back — I act,” he said. “On this occasion it backfired. But it’s not gonna slow me down.”
He added, “I’ve dealt with pain before; you just gotta suck it up.”
On Tuesday, his tooth hadn’t been fixed because dental insurance wouldn’t cover it, he said.
“I’ve been shot, I’ve been stabbed. And you go into a hospital, and your insurance covers it. But they say this is cosmetic. It’s not.”
He added, “The nerve is exposed. It’s driving me nuts.”
He plans to get it fixed in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, he put the tooth under his pillow, in case the Tooth Fairy is real, he said.
