The top NYC mayoral candidates apparently refer to themselves in the 3rd person
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee in the race to become mayor of New York, reportedly often refers to himself in the third person, a habit that would seem a little less weird if presumed Democratic nominee Eric Adams hadn't already admitted to doing the exact same thing. Is there something in the water?
"Don't sleep on Curtis Sliwa, Eric," Sliwa said, referring to himself while sending a message to his likely opponent in an interview with Politico. "New Yorkers know Curtis Sliwa. I come right at you."
Voters "know that Curtis is going to crack down on crime. They know that," added Sliwa later, once again abandoning first-person syntax for a bizarre third-person approach.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As far as reasoning for such a habit, Sliwa neglected to mention (for Adams, it's supposedly a reflection technique). Regardless, if and when Adams' primary win is clinched, a match-up between the two candidates would make for quite the debate.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
A peek inside Europe’s luxury new sleeper busThe Week Recommends Overnight service with stops across Switzerland and the Netherlands promises a comfortable no-fly adventure
-
Space data centers could be joining the orbitUnder the radar The AI revolution is going cosmic
-
Codeword: December 23, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
