Republican New York City mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa quit his 25 years-long radio host gig at WABC during a tense on-air exchange on Wednesday, after WABC’s owner, John Catsimatidis, and radio personality, Sid Rosenberg, called on Mr. Sliwa to drop out of the race.

“You will never see me in the studio of WABC ever again. Never. No matter how this election turns out,”  Mr. Sliwa said.

Mr. Sliwa’s defiance comes as he fends off calls — and according to him, even offers of bribes — from billionaires and business leaders for him to leave the race to help the Democrat-turned-independent candidate, Governor Andrew Cuomo, consolidate the anti-Zohran Mamdani vote and give him a greater shot at winning.

A billionaire grocery and media magnate, Mr. Catsimatidis — who ran for mayor as a Republican and has influence in the party — called on Mr. Sliwa to drop out of the race on air on Monday. The Guardian Angels founder has previously described Mr. Catsimatidis as a friend and took a leave of absence from the station to run for mayor.

“Curtis should pull out right now,” Mr. Catsimatidis said on Monday morning. “People will be proud of him that he did the right thing for New York City.”

“We cannot take a chance on Zohran winning,” he said, referring to the 33-year-old democratic socialist who is running on the Democratic ticket.

Another WABC radio host, Sid Rosenberg, who interviewed Mr. Sliwa on Wednesday, echoed these calls. “This is nothing personal. This is about saving the city,” Mr. Rosenberg posted to X on Tuesday.

Mr. Sliwa wasn’t buying it. “I feel personally offended by friends and colleagues at WABC,” Mr. Sliwa said. He called the station’s WABC acronym short for “Always Broadcast Cuomo,” since Mr. Catsimatidis has the former governor on frequently and is backing him.

“They have been saying I’m selfish — are you out of your mind?” Mr. Sliwa said.  

When asked by the Sun about this on-air exchange, Mr. Sliwa responded by text, “I said I would never walk into the studios of WABC ever again.” It’s unclear if he’d host a program at some other station.

Mr. Sliwa is getting his moment in the spotlight as he fends off calls for him to quit the race. He went on CNN on Tuesday and reiterated that it’s not up to billionaires to decide for whom New Yorkers can vote. The Red Scare podcast hosts asked on X if Mr. Sliwa would come on their program.

Mr. Mamdani is heavily favored to win the mayor’s race. Early voting starts on Saturday. The final mayoral debate will air on Wednesday night. 

Mr. Mamdani has a double-digit lead over Mr. Cuomo in many polls, with Mr. Sliwa polling in third place at less than 20 percent. A poll released Monday shows Mr. Cuomo within the margin of error in a two-way race with Mr. Mamdani — if Mr. Sliwa drops out. The poll, though, used 2021 sampling demographics, before Mr. Mamdani mobilized thousands of first-time and infrequent voters in the primary.

There have been no polls showing what a Sliwa-Mamdani two-way race would look like.

The five New York Republican Party county chairpersons are standing behind Mr. Sliwa. Some are calling on Mr. Cuomo to drop out, saying it’s ridiculous that he’s calling Mr. Sliwa, a major party candidate, a “spoiler.” 

“I’m calling on him to drop out because our bottom base of 20 percent is never voting for Andrew Cuomo,” the Bronx GOP chairman, Mike Rendino, tells The New York Sun.

“We could have sold Eric Adams to the base. He was doing all the right things. Hired a deputy Republican mayor, was working with Trump, was cleaning up the city. We cannot sell Andrew Cuomo to the base. Not now. Not ever.”