He’s a self-proclaimed “serial” spouse and de-fanged horndog running to become New York City’s next mayor.
In a candid account of his long and complicated love life, Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa opened up to The Post about his four marriages and other rocky romances — including how he got into fistfights with bigots while defending his first wife, a black woman, in the mid-1970s.
The 67-year-old Guardian Angels founder also insists he — and the entire female species in general — might be better off that he was left impotent following surgery a decade ago to cure prostate cancer.
He blames the death of his third marriage on his then-raging libido, which prompted him to cheat with a longtime lover, ex-Queens councilwoman and current District Attorney Melinda Katz.
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Regrets? He has a few, including once saying he wanted to bed then-Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito during his WABC-AM radio show, and boasting about sleeping with two other Council members besides Katz.
“The benefit of being impotent is your mind doesn’t even focus on [sex]. You’re not looking at anyone else, not thinking about anyone else,” said Sliwa, who faces off against heavily favored Democrat Eric Adams in the Nov. 2 mayoral election.
Here’s a look at some of Sliwa’s paramours over the past five decades:
Koren Drayton, Wife No. 1
Sliwa said he was immediately smitten with the Virgin Islands native, gushing that Drayton was the “spitting image” of iconic black activist Angela Davis.
“I loved Angela Davis at the time,” Sliwa recalled. “Like her, Koren had that magnificent ‘fro, the looks. …We shared a love for soul music. She was a very good dancer. This was like nirvana for me.”
In 1975, Sliwa left his family home in Canarsie, Brooklyn, to shack up with Drayton in Brownsville. The couple experienced immediate racism — from blacks in Brownsville and whites in Canarsie, including some of Sliwa’s family and friends.
“In Canarsie, they’d besmirch her, saying I was an N-lover,” Sliwa said. “In Brownsville, they objected because ‘why is this white guy coming in and marrying one of our sisters?’ This was not a time when interracial relationships were common.”
In June 1976, the couple married and relocated to Far Rockaway, Queens, before moving to the Bronx, where Sliwa took a job as a night manager at a local McDonald’s. Sliwa became a step-father, helping raise Drayton’s young daughter from an earlier relationship.
He said racial tensions certainly strained the marriage, but ultimately the main reason they divorced in 1977 was they simply married too young — in their early 20s.
Sliwa insists the split was amicable, but he hasn’t had contact with Drayton or his former stepdaughter since the divorce. He welcomes re-connecting.
Lisa Evers, Wife No. 2
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In 1981, Sliwa became a tabloid darling after marrying Lisa Evers, a stunning model and martial arts expert who was thenthenational director of Sliwa’s crime-prevention group, the Guardian Angels.
He recalls them having a “great” working and marital relationship during their early years as a couple, despite racking up massive credit card debt while living in a Manhattan apartment on Avenue A.
In 1990, they began co-costing a WABC-AM radio talk show, “Angels in the Morning,” to help pay the bills.
Sliwa said the marriage started to sour after he skirted death in 1992 during a presumed mob hit that prosecutors believed was ordered in retaliation for Sliwa calling thelate Gambino godfather John Gotti a drug dealer, crook and “public enemy No. 1” on his radio show.
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Sliwa said he received death threats during this period that strained the relationship — as did on-air discussions about the couple’s family members and personal life that Evers didn’t welcome.
“It caused a wedge, and everything began to come unglued,” said Sliwa.
The couple divorced in 1994.
Sliwa said his relationship with Evers is now “civil,” adding they occasionally run into each other while she’s out in the field reporting for Fox 5 News. She didn’t return messages.
Melinda Katz, lover and baby mama
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Sliwa said he had an on-and-off relationship with Katz from 1996 to 2014. They have two children conceived through in vitro fertilization and previously lived together.
Sliwa said he once asked Katz to marry him but quipped, “She wisely said no.”
He concedes putting plenty of pressure on the relationship by routinely attacking ex-Gov. Cuomo and other top Democrats that Katz had to deal with as an elected official, but insisted they now have a “great relationship.”
When asked if she supports Sliwa for mayor, Katz said she isn’t endorsing candidates for elected office as district attorney but added “Curtis is the father of my children and obviously holds a very special place in their lives.”
Mary Paterson, Wife No. 3
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In 2000, Sliwa married the former Mary Galda, who was then the executive director of the Guardian Angels. The two share a son, Anthony. They divorced in 2012 after Galda accused Sliwa of having an affair with Katz.
The relationship got even messier in 2013, when Galda slappedSliwa with a $1.4 million lawsuit alleging he was a “world class liar” who swindled her out of money under the guise of overpaying child support for his kids with Katz. She claimed he was plotting to drain marital assets and ultimately leave Galda for Katz. The lawsuit was ultimately tossed.
Sliwa admits cheating on Galda with Katz but insists the child-support payments were strictly to help his kids with Katz — not create a nest egg for he and Katz to live on.
The story has a surprisingly happy ending.
In 2015, Galda hooked up with former Gov. David Paterson, who Sliwa once co-hosted a radio show with. They got married in 2019, and Sliwa said he couldn’t be happier.
“I applauded it,” he said. “Mary deciding to marry Gov. Paterson was great. He’s an outstanding stepfather toAnthony.”
Both he and his ex-wife described their current relationship as “good,” although the new Ms. Paterson declined to say who she’s backing for mayor.
Nancy Regula, Wife No. 4
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Hoping fourth time’s the charm, Sliwa married Regula, an attorney and animal rights activist, in 2018.
The couple hooked up three years earlier when Regula helped Sliwa recover from a series of ailments by recommending supplements of organic mushrooms and antioxidants. Regula also insisted Sliwa move in with her and nursed him back to health after learning he had been sleeping on the floor of his WABC office because most of his income was going towards child support.
“She was my Florence Nightingale,” Sliwa said.
The couple now live in a tiny, 325-square-foot apartment on the Upper West Side where they care for more than a dozen rescue cats.
Sliwa said he gets along great with his 38-year-old wife, a fellow Republican who is running for City Council.
When asked whether his impotence has put a damper on the marriage’s sex life, Sliwa hesitated, then said: “you can create a situation where you engage — but it’s never natural.”
