FULL SHOW: The MTA is raising prices; Talk Radio greatness.

Curtis Sliwa filled in for Mark Simone and shared his experience from attending Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration at City Hall in New York City yesterday. He gave listeners an inside look at the atmosphere and key moments from the event. Additionally, Curtis discussed the recent increase in MTA subway fares, which affects New Yorkers and commuters throughout the Tri-State Area who rely on the subway system. Curtis takes your calls on Mayor Mamdani's inauguration, the MTA raising fares, and more!  Curtis fills in for Mark Simone. He took time to remember the late, great radio producer and host Bernard McGuirk, sharing personal stories and highlights from his career in a heartfelt tribute. In addition, Curtis explored the growing impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce, considering how advancements in AI technology could potentially lead to significant job losses if companies choose automation over human employees. Curtis takes your calls on Radio producer and host Bernard McGuirk, AI, and more! 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now the guardian Angel of talk radio is here. Curtis
Leewah guest host the Mark Simone Show on seven ten.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Woo, Well, well this is it last time around that
I'll be substituting here for Mark Simone's back on Monday
the fifth. But every time I come here, I meet
alumni from where I used to be WABC. Is he

(00:31):
the board up here crash so many others who fled
like refugees from a station that has become synonymous now
with always blaming Curtis for Zoronmandonmi being the mayor and
always bashing Curtis. But anyway, so is he patronizes me
this morning? Oh don't don't do that to me, please,

(00:57):
A very busy New Year's Eve, very busy New Year's dam.
I'm going to get into it momentarily, by the way,
you want to make a New Year's promise? Elected officials
at the MTA money taking Agency, the most inept of
the many state agencies in New York? How about cleaning

(01:22):
the subway cars, the number two, three, and number one
that are so thick with flotsam and jetsam dirt that
it was shameful that I had to explain to tourists
who were here in New York City why we can't
clean our subway cars. I mean filthy dirty. Oh no,

(01:43):
but you know our business here is just to raise
the fair and take more money and provide no service.
That's number one, number two our New Year's resolution from
the Sliwa family, we posted it. You look at all
my social network and just go to act Curtis Lee,
it's all there. And Nancy and I said we want

(02:08):
for New Years to be a time we're all stray
and shelter animals will have a loving home. And there
were people who attacked us for that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, haters, man,
they hate animals again. Mahatma Gandhi said, a society that

(02:29):
does not take care of its animals does not take
care of its people. How many homeless and emotionally disturbed
persons that I see today on the way to the
studios of wo or more that I could count on
my fingers and toes. Let that be said, And then
the hawk is talking out there. It's cold. I want

(02:49):
to give a shout out to the Guardian Angels because
they were at Coney Island yesterday for the annual Polar
Bear plunge, thousands on the beach who went running into
the surf, some of them suffering from exposure. But hey,
they were out there. I gotta tell you that they

(03:14):
were not talking politics. They were saying, the hawk is talking.
It is cold out here, and yet they made the
annual plunge. Meantime, we might as well play from all
the sad sack reports of the inauguration yesterday at City

(03:34):
Hall of Zorhan. You know, em, it's the end of
the world as we know it. Oh, it's over, My god.
How many months of a campaign did we have where
Zorhan was out there every day, every day? Right, He
whooped Cuomo in the primary, he beat me in Cuomo

(03:57):
in the general election. And yet people were shocked because
all of a sudden he gave a speech after he
took the oath on a Quran. Oh that's it, the
end of the world. We'll get into that momentarily. Some
of my friends were like freaking out, a Koran. You

(04:18):
know what that means, Curtis, Well, what does that mean?
Tell me, Well, let's get to what he actually said.
He said, I was elected as a democratic socialist and
I will govern as a democratic socialist. Shocking, right. He
said that every step of the way, all through the campaign,
were you not listening? Were you not listening? Well, let's

(04:44):
face it, most New Yorkers have no idea what a
communist is a socialist. If I took one hundred people
put them up along a wall, they have no idea.
A socialist is not a communist. Okay, It's almost like
I have to take everybody to school. And then naturally
when Bernie the out the Coca Sanders graduate of Madison

(05:06):
High School not far away sitting there, shiver me, Timbers,
was Chuck E Chees, Schumer, schmuck, the Putts who got
up halfway and left. He went to Madison High School.
I can run down a whole litany of people went
to Madison High School. What Bernie Brooklyn boy went to
Brooklyn College. You know the rest of the story. So
he swears him in on the frigid steps of city Hall,

(05:30):
and then the crowd start screaming tax, the ridge tax,
the ridge tax, the ridge. Isn't that what Zaran said?
All drink to campaign and said, he said, I don't
even believe there should be billionaires? Are you forgetting that?
People elected this guy on three issues, freeze, the rent

(05:54):
city buses, for free universal childcare right, and evengine all
of them yesterday. Now. Meantime, while everybody was determining that
this is it, it's over, people were like getting in
touch with me, and see, wait a second, I'm reading
the New York Post. Here it says that you made

(06:15):
a surprise appearance at Mandami's inaugural block party. That's right,
because I wasn't invited with the elites at city Hall.
I certainly wasn't invited like Eric Adams, who one moment
people may boom me, I don't know if I want
to be there. Oh god, what a crook. The best

(06:36):
thing about the dropping of the ball, I mean, the
absolute best thing was the way Andy Cohen went off
on him with Anderson there Anderson Cooper and just said,
get out of here, you cook, your corrupt, You're horrible.
I mean, he just went off. I thought we could

(06:59):
revive a game, you know, instead of the Wheel of Fortune,
you or by merv Griffin with Pat say Jack and
Van White. I think came about in seventy five, although
I think the first host correct me if I'm wrong,
was Chuck Woolry. I think could be wrong. I didn't
ask for you, is he man? Just stop patronizing me,

(07:19):
do me a favor.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
Huh?

Speaker 2 (07:21):
That really bothers me. And we could call it the
wheel of corruption. City Hall for sale under Eric Adams
as he left twenty nine indictments right of either members
of his administration, top aids, allies, donors, including himself, and

(07:43):
he's in moaning and going on and do nothing wrong. Well,
you know, I don't generally like Andy Cohen. Obviously he
had been bending his elbow, he was half in the bag.
But I give him the applause. Thank god. That is
the best thing getting rid of the crook Eric Adams.

(08:04):
And by the way, I warned everybody when I ran
against him at twenty twenty one is he You were there?
You remember at the time I said, this guy's a
crook and this guy is corrupt and we will have chaos.
Was that wrong? They had a survey on his way out.
It said zero percent of all those surveyed said he

(08:26):
did nothing good. I would give him, on one credit,
the best night light mayor we've ever had since Jimmy Walker,
because that's all he would do is go to a
nearby club to the break of dawn. It didn't matter
what burrow until four in the morning. Him and Jimmy
Walker had that. By the way, if you're watching any movies,

(08:48):
you watch the Bob Hope movie about the other corrupt
mayor Jimmy Walker. Really good performance, and that's the white
version of this swaggerman with no plan Eric Adams oofa.
That made me feel good. But then all of these
people saying, how come you went? How come you stood

(09:08):
in line with all the Zorinistas. Because I don't just
base what I say on what I hear in the
news or I see on TV or I scrolled to.
I like to be there in person. And so I
came out of the subway and I was online with
all the Zorinistas, you know, the people who elected Mandami Meyer,

(09:32):
not the elites at city Hall. And I waited my
turn to get in and watch. I was online at twelve.
Didn't get into that. What they called that, I guess
they said it was going to be a block party.
There was no no real party, poorly organized. I didn't
get in till two thirty, that's how long the lines were.

(09:52):
And oh boy, people were saying, how come all these
Zornistas were hide fiving you because they unders stud I'm
standing there out there with all you know, like a
real person, not up in the suites in the streets
like I always am, subways in streets and having a
lot of conversations all City and State. Was that they
can believe it, big article on the Wall Street Journal,

(10:16):
Q and A with me. You know at the end
of the year, if you get a chance, you gotta
read these really good But the main thing is I
was saying to uh, those who hates Zoron and a
lot of my fellow Republicans who are attacking. In fact,
this was some some of the really crazy stuff Curtis

(10:38):
to disease are On and his wife rom the night before.
You saw how they went down into that subway that's
underneath City Hall, the first subway ever created in a
vast subway system. That is really an architect who will
wonder he's got the terror courtA tiles, brash sand of
Lee is just say distinctly European appearance. I actually gave

(11:00):
him credit. Remember the other day, I said, Wow, if
I had been lucky enough to been elected mayor, I
would have never thought of that good, good idea. So
that's where he had his original swearing in Once the
ball dropped in Times Square? Do you know what's happened since?
People come up to me and they say, oh, man,
you know he got sworn in on the Koran. I said, yeah,

(11:22):
he's a Muslim. Did you you find that surprising? He
said that every day of the way. I think he
visited every mosque in the five boroughs. Surprise, surprise. Yeah.
But by him being sworn in down in that subway tunnel,
it was a secret message to Hamas that I got

(11:43):
your back, that I support you. I said, you really
believe that crap? Oh yeah, yeah, it's all subliminal. It's messaging.
I said, it's just a great location, a great venue.
Oh no, no, you don't. You don't understand critis. I said, well,
let me get back to this whole life of being
sworn in on a Qur'an. I said, you realize that

(12:05):
we've had presidents who are not sworn in on a Bible.
In fact, they weren't sworn on any religious book. I say,
what I remember. You folks out there can correct me
wrong if I'm wrong, because you know I will admit
when I'm wrong. I will fess up. When I mess up,

(12:26):
and feel free to do so, because that's really what
talk radio is. It's your turn to be heard. Eight
hundred three two one zero seven ten eight hundred three
two one zero seventy ten. If I remember from my
history lessons, Thomas Jefferson ever got sworn in as president
on a Bible. The guy who followed them, John Quincy Adams,

(12:49):
he believed separation of church and state. He got sworn
in on a book of laws. He refused to be
sworn in on a Bible. Franklin Pierce, another president, book
of lows. I'm not being sworn in on the Bible.
And Calvin Coolidge, one of our worst presidents, was a Puritan,
and he said, I'm not being sworn in on a Bible. Yeah.

(13:12):
But curtisiz's different. He was sworn in on a Koran.
He's a Muslim, and anybody voting for him not realize
he was a Muslim. Yeah yeah, yeah, but Curtige, this
is not right. I said, excuse me, do I not
remember a visit? And Johann Mandami took to the White House.

(13:36):
You remember that visit? Right?

Speaker 3 (13:38):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (13:38):
Man? Now, Cami Mandamie, I can't wait to take all
the money from the city. You can't be electing this guy,
this communist, right, Remember it wasn't Trump saying that like
every day. And then all of a sudden, I love fest.
A love fest was like Barney, I love you, you
love me. Oh, we're gonna be helping him. We agree

(14:02):
on a lot more than I thought. I think he'll
do a great job. I'd be comfortable living in New
York City with Mondamie is Maya who said that Donald Trump. Oh,
they're the best, They're the best. He's gonna be fine. Hey, Zo,
And you want to call me a fascist, don't worry,

(14:24):
call me a fascist. We got played ladies and gentlemen.
And so when I turned to Maga people and Republicans,
I say, you know, the president is embracing And by
the way, did the President put out a tweet on
truth social condemning Joan Mondami's swearing in by burning the
out the Coca Sanders with AOC they did? He No,

(14:48):
he's embraced the guy. Oh no, no, no. But there's
a strategy here, Curtis. You gotta understand that he's gonna
let or let his guard down. He doesn't really mean it.
What do you mean he doesn't really mean it. He
said it before the world. Oh you'll see, Curtis, Yeah, yeah,

(15:11):
yeah you you you gets like you keep believing that,
all right, you keep believing that the President said on
November twenty first, in the White House, with zor unstanding
right there, the better he does, the happier I am.

(15:31):
And by that, by the way, hours before that, the
House of Representatives had passed a resolution denouncing the horrors
of socialism. All the Republicans that you hear from here
at wor on other stations, and eighty six Democrats. So
you figured that zarn MONDAMMI was gonna catch a verbal

(15:54):
beat down, and in fact it was a love fest.
So ladies and jem don't get on my case. This
is what you do to respect the process, the change
of one party to another party, one political ideology to
another political ideology. That's what our American democracy is about.

(16:20):
So I didn't get invited to the inauguration. I just
showed up to the block party so I could share
some of my experiences with all of you and see
for myself. Because I challenge authority. I don't care if
it's Trump, Zorhan, Democrats, business leaders, cultural leaders. I don't

(16:42):
just repeat and regurgitate whatever I hear from the people
I like. I challenge authority, and there's nobody out there
who's gonna give you a better analysis of what took
place yesterday in the freezing cold. And by the way,
really didn't matter because most of the zoronista's young millennials

(17:03):
gen zas. If they had been older, oh boy, it
would have been ice cube hell. Our numbers one eight
hundred and three to one zero seventy ten. That's one
eight hundred three to one zero seven ten. While online
I was alerting all these Zorinistas that artificial intelligence is

(17:26):
coming for you. We're gonna talk about that later. I'm
gonna do my tribute to Bernard mcgirty that used to
do every year at WABC that they never do. I mean,
that was a radio guy. And we're gonna talk about
the crime of the century. Up next, Bitcoin cryptocurrency. I
call it crime coin and the biggest Ponzi scheme that

(17:49):
has ever existed in American history. And some of you
are being lured into it because Trump, who said it
was bitcrime at one time, then got all that money
from the crypto monsters. And now he's the number one
advocate of crime coin one eight hundred three two one
zero sevent ten.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
Street Smart Straight Talk Curtis leewa guest host for Mark
Simone on sevent ten wo wor.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
What I tell you is he stopped glazing me. Huh.
Don't patronize me, huh. Now I'm gonna teach everybody something
about crime coin aka bitcoin, the biggest Ponzi scheme ever.
Bernie Madoff, he can't touch this anyway. The other night
before New Year's Eve, before the ball dropped, they're running

(18:41):
across some of these young millennials. You know, they're all
in too bigcoin. You know they're financial advisors. So let
me ask you a question. Who created crime coin aka bitcoin?
I don't know. Sato Shi Nakamoto, Hi Hi Hi Doshi
na Kamoto. I didn't know that. You know, nobody ever

(19:05):
saw this guy. They claim he created this electronic care
system mind like one million bitcoin, and then all of
a sudden, nobody hears from them, nobody sees them. And
in twenty eleven, three years later, he goes, I moved
on to other things. Ha moved on to other things.

(19:25):
That's a racket. So he created this bitcoin and first
blockchain database that pave the way for cryptocurrency and what
I call a ponzi scheme. And right away the FBI
and interpoal were warning us that organize international crime is

(19:47):
gonna lawn the money through bitcoin and beware this wallet exploitation.
And so I'm talking to these folks and yeah, yeah,
but it's the coming way. Man. You can make a
lot of money. Ponzi schemes make a lot of money too.
Remember Bernie Madoff and Sam Blake Minfried. Remember the guy

(20:10):
who looked like he fell out of his bunk, that
FTX boy who is in prison, but no doubt he's
probably going to try to seek a pardon like the
guy who funded him into business originally. And this is
this is what's got my blood boiling. With Donald Trump now,
who at first used to call bitcoin crime coin. He

(20:33):
used to say it was a scam, it was a
Ponzi scheme. And all of a sudden he has become
the first crypto president. He's ended regulations, he launched a
trump Coin, He's linking crypto to the stock market world,
liberty financial Oh boy, well, all this money borrowing for

(20:56):
crypto and then there'll be a crash, and then everybody
will say that's what happens, it's a gamble on Wall Street. No, no, no,
there is a difference. It was this guy Jao who
actually put Sam bankmin Freed into business at FTX. He's

(21:18):
the richest man in crypto. He admitted to a federal
government that he did money laundering that allowed terrorists and
other criminals to move money on finance. They sent him
to jail, and guess who pardoned him, Donald Trump, the

(21:39):
crypto president who owns his own crypto empire with his family,
and it's now called what is that, liberty, liberty world, liberty,
financial outrage. Oh you can't say that. Yes, I can
come on. Any of you out there, know this is

(22:01):
a Ponzi scheme. People are gonna be lord in now
that the president and his family are all involved, and
you know they're giving their sanctifying it, and they're gonna
be investing money, and then the crypto criminals are gonna
rip them off. In fact, they're gonna use what they
call a wrench attack. The thief enters your house or

(22:24):
your place of business. It's like being hitting ahead with
a wrench until you give up the password. You know
what that is? You have any idea? Is he study
up on it? Because your generation is getting all geeked up?
You know, Oh yeah, bitcoin douche coin. Yeah, so these steams,

(22:45):
many of them degenerate gamblers because they're young, and you know,
they're on FANDU and they're gambling away money they don't have.
There's still millions from bitcoin users. They empty their crypto wallets,
lorder the money, and then they laugh about it. But
are you being told about that? Ladies and gentlemen, do

(23:06):
you ask about that? Do you challenge authority? Do you say,
why is the most powerful man in the world, the
President of the United States and his family, getting involved
in his business that appears to be by anyone looking
at it, a Ponzi scheme. Oh but you can't say that,

(23:27):
Yes I can. I'm an American citizen. I have a
right to challenge authority, as all of you should. And
when I'm giving the opportunity to do talk radio, I
don't do talk radio like everybody else. You know, they
get their talking points, whether they're on the left of
the right. God forbid, they actually question their gods. Zorhanmandami,
he's he's now you know he's going to a form

(23:51):
of idolatry, Donald Trump, idolatry. You dare question anything that
doesn't make sense? Oh you're a true Call me whatever
you want, because I am Curtis Leewa. And when he
doesn't sound right and it looks crooked, look at Eric Adams,

(24:14):
the most crooked mayor of all time. And I told
you about that when I ran against him in twenty
twenty one. And thank god Andy Cohen when the ball
dropped in Times Square reiterated that I get the hell
out of here Eric Adams. He has left a stain
on the soul of this city. And I told you

(24:34):
about that. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah, That's what
I'm on, dummy. I was elected as a democratic socialist
and I will govern as a democratic socialist. Isn't that
what He's at every step of the way. Shocked? And
the President has said nothing but it stole his virtues.

(24:57):
Wake up. I number's one eight hundred and three two
to one zero seven ten. That's one eight hundred three
two one zero seven ten. Talk Radio with Street Crack.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
Literally Curtis Sliwad joined sevent ten w R to Guess
ohs from Mark Samo.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
It's writing. You know, you have guests or callers. I
don't want them glazing me either, you know, patronizing me.
Really what you want as a guest who is an adversary?
And then you have a discussion likewise your callers, who
needs this Barney talk all the time? I love you,
you love me? You know. You go to MSNBC, it's

(25:36):
all the same people. It's like they're in their court,
acquire same thing Fox News Channel. The whole idea is
you get different points of view and you come to
your own conclusion. What's wrong with that? Oh no, it's
got to be all I love you, you love me.
Get out of here. That's that's not Curtis Sleeler. Anyway,

(25:57):
Let's go to the phones. First up, it's Jacqueline in Brooklyn,
your turn to be heard here on sevent ten WR.

Speaker 4 (26:06):
Curtis, I just want to tell you from that other
station they censored me, going back to the month of
October when they started to ramp up their rhetoric against you.
I think you know who I am, and I was
one of your biggest cheerleaders, not only on that station
but everywhere. They would not take my calls. I tried

(26:28):
to point out to everyone. I did a deep dive
into the details of all of these so called polls,
and I explained to them how there was no way
that Cromo could ever win that election. And because of that,
they stopped taking my calls and I stopped listening to
that station.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
Good good, Well, let me tell you, Jacqueline, for many
of you, and I know you're out there because you
come up to me all the time, You're texting me,
you're sending me emails, all of that. Good. Hey, you
don't need to go back to that Curtis stuff. You
stay right here seven ten w right, you got enough

(27:06):
good talk here to satisfy your needs. Don't be a
massive kiss and go back there. By the way, updates
when I do my tribute to Bernard mcgirta, they never
do a WABC any longer. Is that the guy in
the morning, you know, Sid Tessio. He's planning to move
to Florida. Oh yeah, yeah, they're hurts you a get

(27:30):
right there out of here. They're not gonna stay and fight. No, no, no, no,
they don't believe improved. Don't move. They want out. Look,
you're free to go. This is the greatness of America.
If you're not happy in our trach state area here
or anywhere you move around, it's called migration. It's what's
made America great. I don't fault any of you if

(27:51):
you do that. I've chosen no, no, no, no, I improve,
I don't move. I fight for what I know is right. Unsure.
I'm ondami is going to initiate, he ate something that
I'm in opposition to with others. It's to the barricades
right out of le me? Is that up to the barricades?
See got a place you can come. You don't need

(28:12):
to go to WABC, always bashing Curtis and obviously where
the talk show hosts and hostesses are all preparing to
abandon ship. Oh I know I have it on good authority.
Let's go to Russ, who's calling from White Plains. Your

(28:32):
turn to be heard here at WABC lost toys down there?

Speaker 1 (28:38):
Did they not know that you sacrificed an Ivy League
education for freedom from Jackson Tis?

Speaker 5 (28:44):
I mean, Curtis your crusader.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
Oh stop placing me. Here's another one patronizing me. I
did not sacrifice an Ivy League education. Let's get the
record straight. I was going to Brooklyn Prep. I was
a senior there. Jesuit High School was the last year
they were open, seventy two. I was the student government president.

(29:09):
We took a plever site not to wear the jacketson ties,
which were part of the tradition. I tried to enforce
the plever site. The Jesuit's warned me, there will be
consequences for your actions. Why do you think your mom
and dad and other parents work so hard so their
kids can come and get a good Jesuit education. Part

(29:30):
of it is the discipline of wearing a jacket in tie.
But hey, as in the sixties the counter culture. Don't
trust anybody over thirty. Challenge authority, as I always thought.
But the best lesson that I ever got taught was
there are consequences for your actions. Uh. The headmaster was

(29:55):
a guy named Father Alexander. There was a prefect of discipline.
All hated me. They marched me to my locker. I
had a clearer out. I thought everybody else would join me,
right to a walk out. They looked at me as
if I was a member of the Leper college. And
I had never heard from any of them. And I

(30:16):
headed home to Canarsie, and I never looked back, never
looked back. Spent a few weeks in Canarsie High School,
pretty good local high school, but that was it. I
had it one out, started working. I was pumping gas,
packing shelves at NAP and A and P, and then

(30:37):
ended up going up to the Bronx, who I became
the night manager of Mickey D's and that's where I
started the Guardian Angels. So I never finished high school technically,
never got a GED. I did have a partial scholarship
that was being offered to me from Brown in Providence
because they had just set up an environmental studies program.

(30:57):
I had started some of the first resit kling centers
all over the country, although right there in Brooklyn, and
they wanted to give me a half scholarship, which I
probably would have taken if I graduated, but I my
decisions caused me to suffer the consequences. And this is

(31:22):
what you have to learn and teach your children and
grandchildren growing up. And sometimes you have to learn the
hard way. There are consequences for your actions, and that's
the way it should be. Let's go to Leonora's calling
from Connecticut. Your turn to be heard on what I
hope is your favorite station seven to ten wor Leoni.

Speaker 6 (31:45):
It absolutely is, especially now that you're on it.

Speaker 4 (31:47):
Curtis.

Speaker 6 (31:48):
I just want you to know I checked out for
the holidays. I didn't know where you were when I.

Speaker 5 (31:53):
Put on WR and there you are.

Speaker 6 (31:55):
I freaked out. I can't believe it. I'm thrilled you're
here in Anybody who's who was pissed off that you
didn't drop out of that race can go spin because
anybody who knows you knows that you are not going
to back down. And I'm proud you didn't. Mndonmie was
gonna win no matter what. Cuomo was never gonna take it.
I don't care who was paying him or what was
going on. Mcdonmie was gonna take it.

Speaker 4 (32:17):
And I am.

Speaker 6 (32:18):
Proud you're on w O WAR and I'm so excited
to start my new year out this way. So keep
it going, Curtis.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
All right, Well, remember remember Leonora. For everyone who's just
listening now, I'm only here upstanding for Mark Simon, the
best in the business. I mean, this guy's the smooth operator.
All right. I've worked side by side with Mark Simon.
I competed against Mark Simon. They were none better, none
better than in the business. And the person who is

(32:44):
jumping up and down looking forward to Mark's return on Monday.
The fifth is Greg Kelly over at WABC, because I'd
walk in. I'd walk into that studio. BB's sitting there
snacking off of Mark Simone's shows, taking all kinds of notes.
That's how we would do a show prep, which is
a pretty good idea, especially when you're like Greg Kelly

(33:06):
and you don't do any show prep, and you think
you could sit there for three hours and just do
a stream of consciousness. Now it doesn't work. So he'd
be taking notes, you know, like comedians would be stealing
lines from one another. By the way, we're gonna be
talking about AI in the next hour. Let me quantify it.

(33:28):
It's like Joe Biden. It's a plagiarism machine that steals
and plunders all kinds of information. So like comedians used
to steal from one another, and Greg Kelly steals from
the best in the business, Mark Siman. Not they're wrong
with Dad. I know you're listening now, Greg, You're disappointed
because you the kind of stuff I'm talking about. You

(33:49):
wouldn't be picking my pocket. But it's okay. Mark's coming
back on Monday. You'll have somebody to do your show
prep for you. Hup. Next, gotta pay tribute to one
of the greats. I know he's on every Monday with
Larry Mente Warner Wolf. Oh, what a great story about

(34:14):
Warner Wolf still kicking it down to Fort Myers. And
then the tribute to Bernard McGirt that they don't even
do a WABC any longer, I mean, the most loyal
person ever ever in this thing of ours radio Now.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
More with New York's iconic straight shooter Curtis Leewah guest
hosting from Mark Simone on seven ten wo wo oh.

Speaker 7 (34:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
I look forward a Monday morning when Warner Wolf joins
Larry Minty as he does every Monday. I'm down there,
I think Fort Myers and Naples, Florida. I remember the
last I heard big time from Warner not him personally,
but scrolling through I saw the news that Warner Wolf
had decided to go out to the sign outside of

(35:07):
his home in an uh you know, a compound, a
gated community where it was a homeowner's association and take
down the sign plantation. He didn't want it thought that
they lived on a plantation. He didn't like the connotation,
and they locked him up, and he fought it and
asked Warner Wolf a great okay, let's go to the videotape. Well,

(35:31):
you need to know about Warner Wolf's He spent many
years with him at WABC. That was a tough job
getting him over there because he no longer was doing
sports on television. Tim McCarthy, who was our general manager
at the time, comes to me, I'm doing the morning
program with Ron Kooby, whose mommy is a coming. The

(35:53):
predecessor too, was zoron Mondomi. If you want to know
anything about zoraon Mondamie, he's Ron Koby. Except now you
could get elected. Maya saying that back then they'd want
to lock you up. But anyway, the point is, Tim
McCarthy says, I got a great addition in the morning show,
what a Wolf wants to do sports for you guys

(36:14):
in the morning. I said, Oh, man, he doesn't get
any better than that. Oh, Ron Cooby, Well he'll cut
into talk time, I said, trust me, Ron, people would
much rather listen to Warner Wolf than you and me,
because he doesn't just talk sports. He'll talk about whatever's
on his mind. I said, you know, Warner Wolf both
made his moons in radio before television. I said, his

(36:37):
parents were out in vaudeville. This guy's a great entertainer. No, no, no, Well,
eventually I was able to hold sway. Warner joined us.
What a great combination. And I will never forget one
of the greatest talk radio moments. He's describing how he
and his wife had gone on a tour of Europe
and I don't know if they were visiting Paris at

(36:58):
the time or Vienna. One of those balconies were Hitler,
after taking over the country with the Nazis, had come
out onto the balcony, and you know there were cheering
tens of thousands of Vshi or Nazi sympathizers. And Warner said,
I walked out towards the balcony. I could imagine Adolf

(37:20):
Hitler standing there, and I had a twenty two, and
I walked up behind him and I pulled the trigger
and I blew his brains out. I don't care if
they would have shot me dead right there his body.
I said, you actually says, yes, I've had that that

(37:41):
that thought when I was there with my wife and
I thought about him many times, if only somebody had
done that when this monster was rising up. Man, I
was riveting talk radio. It was so good. And then
of how, of course his emphasis on sports talking about

(38:05):
other issues of the day. I'll never forget. He's up
at a gym like fifty nine Street, Columbus Circle nearby.
He lived there, and he'd be working out in the
public gym and guess who would come in and work
out next one Madonna. Yeah. And the guy was like
a Germapholbe. He would never open up the bathroom with

(38:27):
his hands. You'd always have tissue paper and toilet paper
and you know, bounty towels, just like some of you
out there German folks. He would never talk on on
he doesn't touch it. And if I remember correctly, he
said I never drank water. It's like a drummondrry, you know,
a one hum camel never drank water. What a great personality.

(38:49):
Best thing that ever happened to me in radio was
bringing warn a Wolf on board, who, by the way,
remember I had been with Imus in the morning doing
sports when the World Trade Center was attacked on nine
to eleven, and they lived too far away, and he
gave great commentary as to what was transpiring. Unfortunately, too

(39:16):
many people never were exposed to warn a Wolf, not
only in terms of his great ability on television doing sports,
but how vaudevillian he was, what a great entertainer, what
great stories he can tell, which is everything that makes
radio great. It isn't just regurgitating what was in the news.

(39:38):
Anybody could do that. It's connecting the dots and relating
it to stories that not only you grew up with,
but maybe you were personally involved with. And the fact
that you can turn to wr and he won a
Wolf with Larry MENTI in the Morning is truly blessing

(40:00):
of talk radio because if you're listening to WABC always
bashing Curtis, you end up listening to the Eye and
Me guy. You know, Sid Rosenberg, it's all about him.
He thinks he knows everything about sports. At that time,
it was Warner Wolfe who was doing the sports on
the IMSS in the Morning show, and the guy who

(40:23):
made that show work was its executive producer, Bernard McGirk.
I will share with you some stories up next. I
do it. I did it every year when I was
at WABC, when he used to be always broadcasting Curtis,
because they didn't do it, which they should have. This

(40:43):
guy knew more about radio, the ins and outs. He
would be a CONSIGLIERI with the guests off, I miss
when Imus would blow up. He'd booked the guests. He'd
read the books. That's why he was a constant reader
of books. And he would speak to I miss in
the headphones, and I miss would repeat what Bernie said,

(41:05):
and then I Miss, in a break, would scream unmentionables
to Bernie and his staff. Oh yeah, yeah, you don't
want to go anywhere. A tribute to Bernard McGirt, one
of the great voices in all of talk radio.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
Now the Red Beret has returned to radio. Curtis lee
Wall guest host The Mark Simone Show on seven Tenor.

Speaker 2 (41:33):
Oh, I heard that update about Governor Schruell from a congresswoman.
She's going on a diner tour. Boy, nobody hears from
Jack Ciarelli any longer. Remember he was the big maga
trumper guy this time around, third time around, and her
whole campaign was affordably cost the living and he washed.

(41:57):
But you don't hear from him at all. I don't
know what he plans for doing. I've known Jack, there's
a good candidate. But the voters were interested in in
course of living affordability. That's what propelled Johann Mondamia New
York and in other races where Democrats beat Republicans around

(42:20):
the country and maywell end up determining the fate of
the House of Representative. You know, Trump, there was a
fake news, fake note. Now it's all about oh no
affordability courts OLIVI yeah, yeah, okay, get on board. But
it reminds me of a great radio figure who was
here from time to time, the King of talk radio,
Bob Grant. Yeah, he was here on two different occasions.

(42:44):
But when he was at WABC, was there. I was
at that time. There was the woman trying to become
governor there, Christine Todd Whittless. What the scratsiata what a shanda?
Remember she's the one who was the epa chieftess for
Bush forty three and in the aftermath of the attack
of nine to eleven said, oh, no toxins in the air.

(43:07):
You don't need gloves or masks or has matt suits
just inhal exhil. Look how many died, Look how many
still suffered. But anyway, at that time it was governor
of Florio, and Bob grand single handedly got her elected.
He coined the phrase Florio Free in ninety three. And

(43:27):
Florio was originally from Brooklyn. He worked in a butcher's shop,
joined the US Navy, and he was paving the way
for his reelection. He was raised in taxes and Bob
Grant took Christine Toddwitt lists of patrician by the hand,
took her on the bus tour from Camden County to
Hudson County. Of course, the stopover at his favorite haunt,

(43:50):
the Rio Diner in Woodbridge, New Jersey. We're at the time.
Guess who the mayor was, is he? Well, yeah, the
guy who just lost his attempted political cost come back
in Jersey City to become the mayor. As he addressed
a nation later on and said, I am a gay American.
You know that is yeah, like Como, he attempted to

(44:14):
come back. He was the mayor Woodbridge at the time.
Jim McGready. It was greed, greed, and he crashed in Burner,
Jersey City. But anyway, the point being is Bob Grant
single handedly took this woman and got her elected, and then,
in typical political fashion, she stuck the ship in his back,

(44:38):
came up, did an interview in the studios at WABC
at that time at two pen plasan Madison Square Garden.
Here's the guy who got her elected. And because people
were calling Bob Grant erasis, she chimed in, oh yeah,
she was stabbing him in the back. And Bob was

(44:58):
always respectful to his guests on the radio. You know,
he would rail against them when he was doing his commentaries,
but he was always respectful. I was there at the
station that day. It was a horrific political performance, and
you got to understand that you may be loyal to
certain politicians, it doesn't matter. They care only about themselves.

(45:23):
And that was clearly evidenced with Christine Todd Whitless, miserable Verson,
but she had no loyalty. The guy who did have loyalty,
it's the great Bernard McGirk. And I say great because

(45:44):
he earned it. His father was a bus driver, Irish
bus driver in the Bronx. His mother raised kids in
the Monroe housing projects and Soundview that's where Wesley Snipes
grew up. Yeah, Wesley, pay your taxes. I never did,
and many others who grew up there. But when you
were white, back then, you were the minority, and it

(46:09):
was a tough upbringing. But when I've been to the
Monroe projects and I speak to the elderly African American women,
many of them still living there, they would say Bernard
McGirk would walk around with books all the time. He'd
be reading books. He'd be teaching kids to read, even
the ones threatening him to give him a beat down.
And as you know, Bernard was a tough guy. It

(46:30):
was a Hayes man, went to Cardinal Hayes. I think
he went to Mount Saint Vincent up in Riverdale, then
left school, was driving livery cabs up in young because overnight,
you know how dangerous that is. Back then the Slobine projects,
Milford Gardens, thugs and then late and now you know
who's china hal at back then livery cabs, it's pimps,

(46:54):
it's prostitutes, it's John's, it's drug dealers, it's drug users
and drunks who are getting out of the bars along
McLean Avenue in the wee hours of the morning. And
it was tough. He talked to me about all the
times he got pissed, the whip guns to his head
Rob because back then it was cash and carry, and
then he fell into radio. It's one of the best

(47:17):
things that ever happened on radio. At some point he
hooked up with Imus, who had had his ups and
downs and was just a nasty guy. Nasty guy, but
he became the lynchpin, the flywheel, the one person who

(47:38):
was able to turn it around for don Imus, who
depended on which day it was, was probably in a
really bad mood if I remember correctly. There was i'mus
Charles McCord, his news guy, Rob Bartlett, Lou Raffino, who
is now said Roseen's wingman. If he hadn't gotten Lura

(48:03):
Fino here from w o WAL, I don't think sid
Rosenberg would have cut it. Once Bernard McGirk passed away,
we'll get into that momentarily. But by the time they
came to WABC, this is after that Scarlet Knight situation
with Rutgers, which I think occurred in about two thousand

(48:25):
and seven. All of a sudden, MSNBC canceled them because
they were simulcass and then WFA and canceled them. Fired
the imis fired Bernard McGirr kept the others on a
little bit, but let them go too, and they were
in a lurch. They were persona no grade. They had
a scarlet letter on them. They would called races, which,

(48:47):
let me tell you something, Bernard McGirr going up in
the projects with predominantly African Americans and Hispanics around him,
not far from the Soto Mayor Projects which used to
be the Bronxdale Projects renamed in her honor, near the
Bruckta in the heart of the South Bronx. He was
no racist. Probably the saddest moment that I experienced on

(49:10):
his behalf is that he was supposed to in two
thousand and seven be hired over at WRKO for the
morning program in Boston, and boy, they wanted him there
desperately because he would have been a perfect fit Irish
And remember he used to do used to do the

(49:31):
imitations of John and Cardinal o'conna and Cardinal Egan. You know,
you had that Federal Express envelope as like the cone
on his head. He was great with the Irish brogue
man and loved him in Boston. So there I am
in the studios a WRKO in Boston. I was leading

(49:52):
Guardian Angel patrols. Some black minister had said, don't come
to Boston because you're just asking to end up in
a body bag. It was high crime. The mayor was
opposed to it, and so here it was. They were
going to hire Bernard McGirk to be the co host
with the former Speaker of the crooked Boston excuse me,

(50:17):
Massachusetts Legislature, Tom Finneran, and then Alslom Shady Sharpton and
Barack Obama started working the phones to all the advertisers
and telling him, if you hire that racist Bernard McGirk,
we're going to launch a boycott. So when I got
there that morning, I said, hey, where's Burnie. Oh no, no, no,

(50:40):
they decided not to take him. Honest, but what that
would help you, Thomas? You know you're a politician. I
was honest with him. Politicians make horrible talk show hosts
because they always speak with a seven second soundbelt. They're
the worst. He goes, no, you're right, I needed Bernie.
So once again Bernard McGirk was off into the ABYSS,

(51:01):
labeled the racist. Meantime, unbeknownst to anybody, don Imus, who
represented his whole crew, because you paid Imus and then
he paid his crew, so you were subject to whatever
Imus said you had to do. He was meeting with
the Buckley family who owned WOR, this station seven ten

(51:24):
at the time, family owned station, and they were on
the cusp of hiring him. Now, remember the morning shows
there had either been gambling one, two, three, or programs
that sounded like the Gambling Show, you know, sound alikes,
So this would have been a major departure for them.
I don't know what happened, but negotiations broke down and

(51:50):
at that point WOR decided not to bring him into
the mornings. That's like halfway through twenty two thousand and seven.
And then towards the end of two thousand and seven,
what happens. WABC hires Imus in the morning and his
crew to replace Curtis and Cooby. They fired Kooby and
they put me in a box doing overnight radio and

(52:12):
that was syndicated across the nation. But they weren't gonna
let me go, and they say this, so wow. That
was all within a year, and every step of the way.
Bernard McGirk was loyal to Imus and loyal to the team.
Never told the stories. The horrific stories of how badly

(52:35):
i'mus treated him and all the members of his staff.
By the way, the executive producer, when you saw him
in the studio, he was feeding information to Imus. Bernard
would read the books, he would give them the questions
to ask. There were sometimes Imus was almost incoherent, and

(52:58):
Bernard McGirk would save the day whether Imus was off
in New Mexico and then eventually in Texas at Ranch whatever.
And then he had a wish at WABC. He wanted
to have his own show. He had earned it many
times over great talk show host and he said to
management and ownership, I want to be able to bring

(53:18):
up Sid Rosenberg from Florida, who was having a difficult time,
and he convinced him. He convinced them that yeah, this
could be a good show. I remember I went down
to Florida. I was hosting a Guardian Angel conference at
the hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, and I was asking
questions about Sid because he had just been fired in

(53:39):
another radio station. Assumed he had some of the same
problems he had before. He hadn't. I reported back to
ownership management and I told, man, you got it. You
got to bring Sid up because he wanted to hire
Mike Lupica, the sports writer at at the Daly News.
Great sports writer, but horrible talk show hosts. I'm a say,

(54:00):
convince them, you don't have to come into the station.
You could do it from your basement and New Canaan, Yeah,
just destroy the station even more, saying, God, they listen
to me. They brought Sid Rosenberg up. Sid was a
great addition. And then unfortunately Bernie and this is a
message to all of you to get to your menfolks
that never took that PSA test. A simple prick of

(54:24):
the finger, a simple prick of the finger. If he
had had that blood test, it's simple. I can assure
you he would not have died of frog state cancer
like so many men needlessly do because they don't get tested.
If you're forty five or older, you gotta get tested.
Women folk listening out there, you have the right to

(54:45):
nag them, be all over them, make sure they get
that test, because the toughest guys are the ones least
likely to take the test because they think, oh man,
it goes my manhood. You know, I'll have to be
using no longer the urino. I'll have to go into
this stall and do a squad in for us. That's nonsense.
I had stage four prostate cancer, but Bernie was old school.

(55:10):
And when we return, I'll tell you exactly what happened there.
For one year, this guy suffered and he had continued
to do talk radio while his partner Sid Rosenberg was
hoping that he would have a shot to do the
show on his own. You imagine that this guy who

(55:34):
had brought him, who said I want sit up here,
and all Sid was doing while Bertie was suffering, is
I could do this show on my own. Really, No,
you couldn't. No, you can't. And I'll give you the
rest of the real story as I do my homage

(56:00):
to a great all round figure and talk radio Bernard McGirk,
who should be honored on a regular basis for all
he put up with, all he did and what he
contributed to the thing of ours. One eight hundred three
two one zero seven ten. That's one eight hundred three
to two one zero seven ten.

Speaker 1 (56:20):
Actual Curtis Sliwa guest host the Mark Simone Show on
seven ten War.

Speaker 2 (56:27):
Every year. When I said WABC not my place to be,
you got to be listening to seven to ten War,
it is the voice in New York. Don't be a
Massachus and go back listening there because they don't do
these tributes to a guy who was so important to
radio in general, never mind WABC. So Bernard McGirk is

(56:51):
fighting to have his own program and without which I
Miss could not exist without Bernie as his executive producer.
So the deal is made. Burnie will continue to be
the executive producer for don I Miss in the Morning
six to ten, and they would replace Heraldo Rivera, who

(57:11):
was a prima donna at that time, never wanting to
come and do the show in the studio with the
new show Bernard McGirk and Sid Roseberg. Now everybody knew
Bernard McGirk, come on, he was on with O'Reilly remember
once a week before anybody really knew Gutfeld. Gutfeld now
everybody knows him, But Bernie carried that segment until Gutfeld

(57:32):
got his legs. So everybody knew Bernie, not everybody knew Sid.
But it was a great program because in twenty sixteen,
remember it was the election of Trump versus Hillary, and
Sid was truly a Hillary Rodham Clinton supporter, and as
you know, there was no bigger supporter of Donald Trump

(57:56):
than Bernard McGirk. So it's great to listen to them
back and forth. And then, as you know, Trump becomes president.
Hillary was still in a fetal position at the Jacob
Chavich Senna willing to accept the coronation, and they had
a teller every day for a month. No, no, Hillary,
You're not the president. And finally bring it back to
the Love Shack in Chappaqua, the whitest suburb in America

(58:17):
where even the launch jockeys are white. So now they're
moving along. They're doing mid mornings. Remember Bernie's still the
executive producer in the morning for don Imus, who is
losing it. I mean, you could tell. And then finally
they determined that it's time for Imus to ride into
the sunset. That's it, he's retiring. I think it was

(58:40):
in twenty eighteen. And so now it's Sid and Bernie
in the morning. But Bernie's the bus driver. Bernie did
all the show prep. Bernie is getting cuts, Bernie is
working hard like he always worked. He was the executive
producer and obviously the host, the go to hosts and said,

(59:00):
you could tell there was like resistance, resistance It's like
Sid wanted to talk sports, okay a little bit of that,
and naturally all about himself, and he'll tell you, oh, look,
I'm paranoid, I'm insecure, I'm neurotic. But he had to
tell you things about himself. Quite frankly, they weren't all
that interesting. But Bernard would do the reading, do the research,

(59:24):
and help do a really good morning program. But unfortunately
he did not pay attention to the warning signs that
maybe some of you guys are having out there. And
I beg you, I beseech you, as somebody who at
stage four prostate cancer, get the simple prick of the finger,
the blood test. That's all it is, because if you don't,

(59:45):
you might end up like Bernard McGirk and so many
others that you knew. There was nobody healthier than Bernard mcgirky,
lived in Long Beach, his wife, has two children. He'd
be on the board walk there riding his bicycle, healthy diet,
It wasn't better shape than any of us. In fact,
in the lockdown and pandemic, I'll never forget the image
of Bernard McGirt coming off the Long Island railroad, dressed

(01:00:07):
like Lawrence of the Arabia with a shive in his
hand because all the emotionally disturbing and homeless people had
taken over Penn Station. I know we and the Guardian
Angels were caring for him, and I would see I
would see Bernard emerge. Man, you didn't want to mess
with Bernard McGirt. He was prepared, but he was gonna
get to that station and it was a great team.

(01:00:30):
In the morning, now everybody recommended to him, Bernie, Bernie,
you better go talk to Curtison Studio B because he
was I'm not feeling well, and Bernie started to tell
me what his symptoms were, and I kind of understood
it was prostate cancer, having been through the ordeal myself.

(01:00:52):
Luckily I survived. He didn't. He had not gotten a
PSA test. He had to go home and at times
do the broadcast from home laying down on the bed
parallel to the ceiling. Wow, there's cancer metastasized. I think

(01:01:14):
he went into his liver and then his brain and
then by twenty twenty two, unfortunately Bernard McGirk is dead.
They had a nice commemorative mass in Saint Patrick's Cathedral
and we all got a chance to speak on behalf
of Bernie and the many fans who had grown up

(01:01:35):
listening to Bernard McGirk filled Saint Patrick's Cathedral. People went
out to his wake in Long Beach, including at the
time the Mayor of the City of New York, Eric Adams,
who always used to tell Bernie, and I tell Bernie,
he's pulling your shorts. Oh this is my favorite morning show.
Meantime you knew it was Charlemagne. That god right, they

(01:01:56):
tell the mighty whities. Yeah, you're my favorite show. You
and said, meantime, he's listening to Charlemagne.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
Guy.

Speaker 2 (01:02:01):
He went all the way out there, and Bernie's father,
just like Bernie, looked at Eric Adams because he was
sitting up in the front, and he said, what are
you doing here? Looking for votes? And everybody busted out
laughing because they knew what that was about. But the
fact was that Sid was having a tough time carrying

(01:02:22):
this program. It really was. People were used to Bernie.
They wanted Bernie. Obviously he could no longer do it.
So the suits, the owners of WABC, said he needs
a partner right away. They came to me because I've
not morning shows. I mean, you name it have done
him many times with Lisa Angels in the morning with
Ron Coolby, done a lot of morning shot and Nope,

(01:02:45):
not I. This guy does not want a partner. It
is clear he's a diva. He thinks the show should
be all about him. And so they tried Andrew Giuliani,
who was a rookie. I had him in the talk
radio boot camp there along with others like Dominic Carter
and others, and he was learning. And then one morning

(01:03:08):
he's on with SID and they get into an argument about,
of all things, former New York Yankee Paul O'Neill of
no consequence to the argument, and Sid uses that is
the excuse. I don't want him here anymore. He never
wanted a partner to begin with. Big mistake. And then
thankfully they brought over from here wr the former Border

(01:03:34):
operator and great contributor Lou Raffino, who became SID swingman.
But I will tell you the show at times she
can't listen. It's all about said, I mean, you know,
my whole life. Who cares? And then October seventh hit
the attack against all the Israelis and others in the

(01:03:56):
southern end of Israel thousand two hundred killed, two hundred
and fifty kidnapped, and said he would never really been
in tune with his Jewish roots, would always complain to
wish I had been born as supreme Cushine, He'll omit it.
Suddenly discovered his Jewish roots, and I may have created
the monster that he is now. And I dubbed him

(01:04:17):
King David the Second because now on almost any morning
you tune in, he's either talking about a Jewish event,
he went to a Jewish event, it's giving him an
honor Israel, BB Israel, anything related to the Jews, And
I'm saying to myself, you know, there's more to this

(01:04:38):
world than just Israel and Jews. I created a monster,
There's no doubt about it. But he got so self
absorbed you would think that he would bless his lucky stars,
that he would look high in the sky to Hashem
and say, man, I I'm telling you, I would not

(01:04:59):
be here if we went out for Bernie McGirk. I
would not be here. If Bernie McGirk had not said
his opportunity, which he could have handled solo, he said,
I want to do this show would sit and it
was a great show, especially when they first came together
in twenty sixteen, said a true supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton,

(01:05:19):
although he doesn't like to talk about it now. And
the ultimate trumper before there was MAGA was Bernald McGirk.
So on that note, even though they won't do it
at WABC, I do it every year no matter where
I am, because if we don't honor all of those

(01:05:41):
who made this thing of ours possible, shame on us.
You just don't understand how much abuse Bernard McGirk was
subjected to by Don Imus. How he kept that team together.
He was the consiglieri. Imus was out of control, Charles McCord,
Rob Bartlett, Litu Rafino, all the others. He would be

(01:06:06):
the ones. No, no, no, I'll get control of him.
He would do all the show prep, he would read
the books, he would feed don EMSs the lines. Did
don ever acknowledge that, of course not? It's it ever
acknowledge that, of course not. And all Bernard McGirk wanted
to do with his own program, Let's be the bus

(01:06:28):
driver and do all the heavy lifting and all the
work that's necessary. Two hours of preparation is required for
one hour talk radio. If you're good, If you're just
repeating what you heard the night before. Anybody can do that,
so to a WOR audience that may not have ever

(01:06:49):
really experienced the greatness of Bernard McGirk. He so mightily
contributed to this thing of ours and suffered in so
many ways. It's important for us to acknowledge him each
and every day. Our number is one eight hundred and
three two one zero seven ten. This is WOR seven ten,

(01:07:11):
the Voice of New York, and it should be if
you haven't listened before, your newfound station, the Pulse of
New York. Now on the Voice of New York.

Speaker 1 (01:07:21):
Curtis Sleewald guess host marks them all on seven ten WOR.

Speaker 2 (01:07:30):
As we go to the phones, because it's your turn
to be heard. What should be your talk radio station
seven to ten WOR the Voice of New York. It
certainly is in the Slieber family. Now, and don't be
a massacres and go back to WABC, always blaming Curtis
for Zara Mandamian, always bashing Curtis. I mean, that's what

(01:07:50):
they do. Let's go to the phones if we can,
and first up in the queue is Diane, who is
calling from Summit. You're turning to be heard here on
seven to ten wor Diane.

Speaker 7 (01:08:05):
Oh, thank you Curtis. I'm so grateful to speak with you.
I cannot tell you have thrive of them with emotion.
I am. I'm grateful to speak with you. I love
to listen to you, and what you did speaking of
Bernhard was so touching. However, I don't want to speak

(01:08:27):
in an emotional fashion. I have a few quick comments
to make. It was terribly disturbing, disgraceful and disappointing that
the previous aw place you worked this you know, regarding you,
that spoke about you after you've been such a royal person.

(01:08:53):
I listened to you regularly. You are you would have
good best menure. Okay, you are very intelligence codus. I
really speak to my heart when I tell you how
much I admire you. I'm trying to be so emotional.

Speaker 2 (01:09:12):
No no, no, no, no no, no, you have you have a
right to be emotional again. Feel free speaking.

Speaker 7 (01:09:20):
I'm speaking for the community. I'm speaking for many people.

Speaker 2 (01:09:24):
Right but I want to want to focus not so
much on me. I'm still alive and well, at least
I think for today. With all the people would love
to kill me that's been my history. It's okay, So
I love that edm song bunt oh. I enjoy I

(01:09:45):
enjoy this day, another day of life. It's the best
day of my life. It is because I'm alive. I
have the best wife you could ever have, Nancy. I
have our cats, and I have so many people who've
gone up listening to me for thirty five years in
talk radio, and all the people that I've reached out
and touched all over the world. No, no, this is
the tribute to Bernard McGirk who was not here. And

(01:10:11):
if you want to honor Bernard McGirk as I do
every year, as you should do, the way you can
do it every day is to warn men forty five
and older to get that simple prick of the finger
that psa blood test that saves lives. I had stage
four prostate cancer. You hear from doctor Gil lead him

(01:10:32):
in often after other doctors have not done well for
their patients. He oftentimes can patch people up and give
them life where they would have normally had a horrendous
death like Bernard mcgirth did. So keep that in mind.
That's how you honor the memory of Bernard McGirk. To

(01:10:53):
make sure that doesn't happen to other men. A simple
blood test and he would still be alive. He was
the healthiest of all of us over there at WABC.
Let's go if we can with Chris Is calling from
Beth Page. Your turn to be heard. He had seven
to ten wor Chris Take Curtis.

Speaker 5 (01:11:11):
I used to listen to and call you a lot
on your on the other station, obviously, and I love you.
You're great, But I have to push back on a
couple of things if you don't, if you will, let me.
First of all, I listen to Sid all the time.
He used to have you on like five days a week.
These guys were the best together. I don't know what
the heck happened, And to this day Sib will even say,

(01:11:31):
he goes, I love Curtis. I'm not, you know, I'm
sorry that this election got between you guys. It's it's
just it's lunacy to me that this has happened. You
and Sid were tremendous.

Speaker 2 (01:11:42):
Well, you have to understand. You have to understand that
all when he was saying that, Tessio, remember the godfather
whoever arranged the meeting is the trader. That's Sid who
all along was contacting people to for Cuomo, encouraging people

(01:12:03):
to jump from my campaign to the Cuomo campaign. Look,
I have all the evidence, There's no doubt about it.
He had had five lunches, five dinners with Andrew Cmo.
What's he having dinner for? That's how Andrew Cuomo Andrew
evilized operated. I knew that Sid is a novice to politics.

(01:12:23):
He never dealt with politics before. He is a sports guy,
and then he became a CuMo sexual big time, oh
big time. And the reason that I was on five
times a week is I would not ever consider being
his partner because he needs one, He desperately needs one.
Lua Fino does a great job as his wingman. The

(01:12:44):
board operator was great with Imus. That keeps him a
little more focused. But when he got rid of Andrew
Giuliani was trying, you can't see you can't disagree with's Sid.
Now I could, because obviously I have more cred I'm older,
I have more experience than Sid. They but others couldn't.

(01:13:05):
You couldn't. So I got on once a week and
then they said, well do it twice a week, three
times a week, four times a week, five times a week.
No problem. He needed that. I didn't mind doing the
extra radio. But does Barney talk? You know, sit in friends?
I love you, you love me? And then, my god,

(01:13:27):
you can predict what the program is each and every day.
I can tell all of you. If Bernard McGirk had
survived as prostate cancer like luckily I had Stage four,
what happened at WABC, to me would never have happened.
Bernard McGirk a man of honor. You couldn't be any

(01:13:49):
more loyal than Bernard. Look at all those years with Imus.
Look at all those years he kept that's that program together.
Look at all those years that he would be beaten
down each and every day by Imus, who is a monster.
And then he'd be the one to rally Charles McCord
and Rob Bartlett and Lou Rafino and the other contributors

(01:14:14):
and say, no, no, no, let's let's let's focus for
another day. And he would do all the heavy lifting.
He would do all the show prep, just like he
did for the brand new show. Bernard McGirk and Sid Roseberg.
Let's sit he now he thought he didn't need anybody.
He does. You can't just do an I and ME show.

(01:14:35):
You gotta do the work, and not just with your friends.
You have to deal with your foes. Let's go if
we can to Bob, who's calling from Perth? Hand boy?
Your turn to be heard here on seven ten wor Bobby.

Speaker 3 (01:14:50):
Good morning courtage. How are you, sir? Happy New Year?
Do you too, sir?

Speaker 2 (01:14:54):
Oh, thank you, thank you. It's been greater. I've had
a two week run here substituting for the best and
talk creator Mark Sebone, and can't get any better than that.

Speaker 3 (01:15:05):
And I also know a good friend of yours that
used to do Elvison personader there the Elvis, Paul Daniels.

Speaker 2 (01:15:15):
Oh, yes, Paul lifelong and a good Polish American too,
I my.

Speaker 3 (01:15:20):
Add, absolutely yes, he is definitely well. Anyway, I want
to say, what is uh the airplane, the helicopter, pilot
and hook Who're gonna do at the outer bridge?

Speaker 2 (01:15:35):
Which?

Speaker 3 (01:15:36):
Uh you know how how bad that is? They fixed
every other thing, but they can't fix the outer bridge.

Speaker 2 (01:15:42):
Out of bridge crossing. How many people over the years
have done the hop skipping the jump? You know what
that is? Is he they start out in Brooklyn, they
cross the Arizona, they go to the south shore of
Staten Island. Then across the outer Bridge crossing, go down
to Manalapan the Jersey Shore. Next stop might be Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee,

(01:16:07):
parts unknown. It all starts with the outer Bridge crossing.
Are you are right? Oh, let me tell you something.
I just want you to keep that focus. I know
there are many many callers blazing away there, blazing away.
Please at the start of the new year, sink back

(01:16:30):
to all the greats in this thing of ours that
we love so much talk radio, from Barry Gray to
Bob Grant, to Barry Farbard and Samuels to Bernard McGirk,
all the people who paved the way. None of them, though,
suffered like Bernard McGirk suffered. You just have no idea

(01:16:54):
what it was like to be in the imus cage
in the morning. He had a deal with that monster,
and then he had to prepare the show, he had
to keep don I miss going. And then when his
dream came.

Speaker 8 (01:17:09):
True, instead of saying what so many in our business, well, no, no, no, no,
I want to do it my own, he said, I
want to bring up my friend sid Rose Murty from Florida,
who had lost every job down there and hadjust been
fired from another radio station.

Speaker 2 (01:17:21):
I don't know why, but they were a great partnership.
Twenty sixteen. Sid was for Hillary really legitimately, and Bernald
McGirk was a Trumper before many became Trumpers. And then
when Sid thought it could be his own, watch out

(01:17:45):
the long knives come out. Oh by the way, he's
planning to move to Florida. Now, Oh yeah, he lives
out there in the Irish Riviera. He's ready to sell
this house. Hey, look, God bless all of you out there.
If you don't want to stay in the land of
mon Damie, I get it. That's what America is about.
You get to move to the places you want to go,
But don't pretend you're gonna stay and fight for what

(01:18:07):
you know is right. Improve don't move. You gotta prove it.
You gotta be a man of honor. You come into
this world with nothing, you go out with nothing. God
bless Bernard McGirk. He lived as a man of honor.
He died as a man of honor.

Speaker 1 (01:18:27):
The voice that fights for New York Literally Curtis Leewad
guest hos for Mark Simone on sevent tenor.

Speaker 2 (01:18:39):
As we move into this new year, the big talk
is going to be about artificial intelligence. Was back in
twenty fifteen that the masters of the universe, the billionaires
Elon Musk and Sam Altman, who owned open ai, said
we can't control this, thaying AI it releases demons. Now

(01:19:01):
they don't care because they're making millions billions of dollars.
People are gonna be wiped out, they're gonna lose their
employment salesforce. Amazon already said we don't need you anymore.
We got artificial intelligence. Yeah, and then they're gonna have
to build these massive data centers, which requires double the

(01:19:22):
amount of electricity that we have now where we're gonna
get that from and lots of water, and it's gonna
be put in neighborhoods near you. And software companies they're
gonna use AI to write code. They're not gonna need
people to do it. They got a white college job.
You lived the American dream, you went four years of

(01:19:43):
college education, you came out, you're CPA. You know you're
a financial analyst, you're a lawyer. Hey, lawyers are using
it to draft legal breach. They're not gonna need you,
and they don't want to slow it down because the
masters of the universe, I'm making money hand over fist.

(01:20:03):
You're not regularly gonna hear people talking about that. Just
keep that in mind, do your research, think for yourself,
challenge authority, and oh bye. By the way, you know,
the person who's gonna be happiest at Mark Simone is
back on Monday. It's gonna be Greg Kelly, a WABC.
That guy. He's been tortured for like two weeks because

(01:20:25):
he did all of his show prep by listening to
the best in talk radio, Mark Simone. And you should too.