January 2, 2026 • 39 mins
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!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now the Red Beret has returned to radio. Curtis lee
Wall guest host The Mark Simone Show on sevent Tenor.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Oh, I heard that update about Governor Schrrell from a
congress woman. She's going on a diner tour. Boy. Nobody
is from Jack Ciarelli any longer. Remember he was the
big maga trumper guy this time around, third time around,
and her whole campaign was affordabily, cost the living, and
(00:36):
he washed. But you don't hear from him at all.
I don't know what he plans on doing. I've known Jack.
There's a good candidate, but the voters were interested in,
in course, the living, affordability. That's what propelled Johann Mondamia
New York and in other races where Democrats beat republics
(01:00):
around the country and maywell end up determining the fate
of the House of Representative. You know Trump, there was
all fake news, fake nord. 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,
(01:20):
Bob Graham. He was here on two different occasions 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 de scratsiata what a shot though,
Remember she's the one who was the EPA chieftains for
(01:40):
Bush forty three and in the aftermath of the attack
of nine eleven said, oh, no toxins in the air.
You don't need gloves or masks or has matt suits.
Just inhal Xl. Look how many died, Look how many
still suffered. But anyway, at that time it was Governor Florio,
(02:01):
and Bob grand single handedly got her elected. He coined
the phrase Florio Free in ninety three. And 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 Texas. And Bob Grant
took Christine Todd with lists of patrician by the hand,
(02:24):
took her on the bus tour from Camden County to
Hudson County. Of course the stopover at his favorite haunt,
the Rio Diner and 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 comeback in Jersey
City to become the mayor, as he addressed a nation
(02:47):
later on and said, I am a gay American. You
know that is Yeah, like Cormoll, he attempted to come back.
He was the mayor of Woodbridge at the time. Jim
McGready greed and he crashed in burnerw Jersey City. But anyway,
the point being is Bob Grant's single handedly took this
(03:10):
woman and got her elected, and then, in typical political fashion,
she stuck the shive in his back, came up, did
an interview in the studios at WABC at that time
at two pen Plaza, Madison Square Garden. Here's the guy
who got her elected. And because people were calling Bob
Grant a racist, she chimed in, oh yeah, she was
(03:35):
stabbing him in the back. And Bob was 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.
(03:59):
It doesn't matter. They care only about themselves. And that
was clearly evidenced the Christine Todd Whitless, miserable person, but
she had no loyalty. The guy who did have loyalty,
(04:21):
it's the great Bernard McGirk. And I say great because
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's where Wesley Snipes grew up. Yeah, Wesley,
pay your taxes. They never did. And many others who
(04:42):
grew up there. But when you were white back then,
you were the minority, and it 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
(05:05):
him to give him a beat down. And as you know,
Bernard was a tough guy. It 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 youon because overnight you know how
dangerous that is. Back then the slowbine projects, Milford Gardens, thugs,
(05:28):
and then late at night, you know who's China hail
at back then livery cabs, it's pimps, 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
(05:49):
it was cash and carry. And then he fell into radio.
It's one of the best 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
(06:16):
one person who was able to turn it around for
don Imus, who depended on which day it was, it
was probably in a really bad mood. If I remember correctly,
there was Imus, Charles McCord, his newsguy, Rob Bartlett Loifino,
(06:38):
who is now sid Rosenberg's wingman. If he hadn't gotten
Lui 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 and situation
(07:01):
with Rutgers, which I think occurred in about two thousand
and seven. All of a sudden, MSNBC canceled them because
they were simulcast, and then WFA and canceled them. Fired,
the imish 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
(07:24):
a scarlet letter on them. They were called races, which,
let me tell you something. Bernard McGirr coughing 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
Bruckna in the heart of the South Bronx. He was
no racist. Probably the saddest moment that I experienced on
(07:50):
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
(08:11):
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 of WRKO in Boston. I was leading
(08:32):
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 mean
(08:57):
Massachusetts Legislature, Tom Finnerant 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,
(09:20):
they decided not to take him. Honest, but what that
would have helped 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 SoundBite.
They're the worst. He goes, no, you're right, I needed Bernie.
So once again, Bernard McGirk was off into the ABYSS,
(09:41):
labeled a 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
(10:04):
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, it soundedlikes
so this would have been a major departure for them.
I don't know what happened, but negotiations broke down and
(10:30):
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 Imis in the morning and his
crew to replace Curtis and Koby. They fired Koby and
they put me in a box doing overnight radio, and
(10:52):
that was syndicated across the nation. But they weren't gonna
let me go. They said it 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
(11:15):
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 i'mus. Bernard would
read the books, he would give him the questions to ask.
There was sometimes Imus was almost incoherent, and Bernard McGirk
(11:38):
would save the day whether i'mus 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 hosts, and he said to management
and ownership, I want to be able to bring up
(11:58):
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
(12:19):
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 Lupeka, the sports writer at at the Daly News.
Great sports writer, but horrible talk show hosts. And I
(12:40):
must say, convince him. You don't have to come into
the station. You could do it from your basement in
New Canaan. Yeah, just destroy the station even more, saying God,
they listened 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 men, never took that PSA test. A simple prick
(13:04):
of 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 prostate 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,
folks listening out there, you have the right to nag them,
(13:26):
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 the stall
and do a squad And for us, that's nonsense. I
had stage four prostate cancer. But Bernie was old school.
(13:50):
And when we return, I'll tell you exactly what happened there.
For one year, this guy suffered and you continue 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 had
(14:15):
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 to a great
(14:40):
all round figure in 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 (15:00):
Curtis Sliwa a guest host the Mark Simone Show on
seven tenor.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Every year when I was at 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 Massacus 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
(15:30):
McGirk is 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,
(15:51):
who 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. 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
(16:12):
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
(16:36):
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,
(16:57):
where even the launch jockey's away. 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 in twenty eighteen.
(17:22):
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 Sid. You could tell there
was like resistance resistance. It's like Sid wanted to talk sports,
(17:45):
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, and help do a
(18:05):
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 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, you might end
up like Bernard McGirt and so many others that you knew.
(18:28):
There was nobody healthier than Bernard mcgirky, lived in Long Beach,
his wife, his 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 like Lawrence of
the Arabia with a shive in his hand. Because only
(18:51):
emotionally disturbing and homeless people are taken over Penn Station.
I know we and the Guardian Angels were caring for him,
and I would see I would see Bernard to merge, man,
you didn't want to mess with bern Ar McGirk. He
was prepared, but he was gonna get to that station.
And it was a great team. In the morning, now
(19:14):
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. Luckily I survived. He didn't.
(19:35):
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 he went into his liver
(19:55):
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 listening to Bernard McGirk filled
(20:17):
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,
it's my favorite morning show. Meantime you knew it was Charlemagne,
that god right, they tell the Mighty Whities. Yeah, you're
(20:38):
my favorite show. You in said, meantime, he's listening to Charlemagne,
the guy. 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.
(21:00):
But the fact was that Sid was having a tough
time carrying 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,
(21:22):
with Ron Coolby, done a lot of morning shot and Nope,
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
(21:44):
and others, and he was learning. And then one morning
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 as
the excure I don't want him here anymore. He never
wanted a partner to begin with, big mistake, and then
(22:08):
thankfully they brought over from here wr the former Border
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
(22:31):
the attack against all the Israelis and others in the
southern end of Israel, thousand, two hundred killed, two hundred
and fifty kidnapped, and said, who had never really been
in tune with his Jewish roots, would always complain to
wish I had been born as Supreme Cugiene. He'll admit it.
(22:52):
Suddenly discovered his Jewish roots, and I may have created
the monster that he is now. And I dubbed him
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 Jews. And I'm saying to myself,
(23:17):
you know, there's more to this 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
(23:38):
I'm telling you, I would not be here if we're
not 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. He doesn't like to
(24:00):
talk about it now. And the ultimate Trumper before there
was MAGA was Bernard McGirt. 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 who made this thing of
(24:23):
ours possible, shame on us. You just don't understand how
much abuse Bernard mcgirth was subjected to by don Imus.
How he kept that team together. He was the CONSIGLIERI
i'mus was out of control. Charles McCord, Rob Bartlett, lit Rafino,
(24:44):
all the others. He would be 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 Imus the lines. Did don ever acknowledge that? Of
course not? It's it ever that, of course not, And
all Bernard McGirk wanted to do with his own program.
(25:07):
Let's be the bus 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
(25:28):
may not have ever 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 to two one zero seven ten.
(25:48):
This is wor seven ten, the Voice of New York,
and it should be if you haven't listened before your
newfound station, the False of New York. On the Voice
of New York.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Curtis Sleewald guess Hose from Marks them All on sevent tenor.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
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 Sleeper family now, and don't be
a massacres and go back to WABC always blaming Curtis
for Zorah Mandamian, always bashing Curtis. I mean, that's what
(26:30):
they do. Let's go to the phones if we can.
And first up in the queue is Diane, who is
calling from Summit. Your turn to be heard here on
seven ten WOR. Diane.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Oh, thank you, Curtis. I'm so grateful to speak with you.
I cannot tell you how tholve them with emotion, I am.
I'm grateful to speak with you. I live to listen
to you, and what you did speaking of Bernhard was
so touching. However, I don't want to speak in an
(27:07):
emotional fashion. I have a few quick comments to make.
It was terribly disturbing, disgraceful and disappointing that the previous
a W place you worked, uh this you know, regarding you,
that spoke about you after you've been such a royal person.
(27:33):
I listen to you regularly. You are you would have
good best manure you are very intelligent. Codis I really
speak my heart? Would I tell you how much I
admire you. I'm trying to be so emotional, but no, no.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
No, no, you have you have a right to be
emotional again. Feel for you.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Speaking for I'm speaking for the community. I'm speaking for
many people.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Right But I want to focus not so much on me.
I'm still alive and well at least I think for today.
With all the people whould love to kill me, that's
been my history, It's okay, So I love that. Edm
song bunt Oh. I enjoy I enjoy this day, another
(28:26):
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 grown 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,
(28:48):
who is not here. And if you want to honor
bern All McGirk as I do every year, as you
should do, the way you can do it every day
is to warn 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
(29:10):
from doctor Gil lead him 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 McGirt did.
So keep that in mind. That's how that's how you
(29:31):
honor the memory of Bernard McGirt to 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. I
we can with Chris, who is calling from Beth Page.
Your turn to be heard here at seven to ten
WOR Chris.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Thank Curtis.
Speaker 5 (29:51):
I used to listen to and call you a lot
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 Sid will even
say he goes, I love Curtis. I'm not you know,
(30:14):
I'm sorry that this election got between you guys. It's
just it's lunacy to me that this has happened was tremendous.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Well, you have to understand, you have to understand that
all when he was saying that testio, remember the godfather,
whoever arranged the meeting is the trader, that's it, who
all along was contacting people to vote for Cuomo, encouraging
(30:42):
people to jump from my campaign to the Cuomo campaign. Look,
I have all the evidences, 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. He
(31:03):
never dealt with politics before. He is a sports guy,
and then he became a homo 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.
Lu Rafino does a great job as his wingman. The
(31:24):
board operator was great with Imans 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 Sid.
Now I could, because obviously I have more credit, I'm older,
I have more experience than Sid. There but others couldn't.
(31:45):
He 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. Let does Barney talk? You know, sit in friends,
I love you, you love me? And then, my god,
(32:07):
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
(32:29):
more loyal than Bernard. Look at all those years with Imus.
Look at all those years he kept that program together.
Look at all those years that he would be beaten
down each and every day by Imus, who was a monster,
and then he'd be the one to rally Charles McCord
and Rob Bartlett and Lou Rafino and the other contributors
(32:54):
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 Sid. Now he thought he didn't need anybody. He does.
You can't just do an eye on me show. You
(33:15):
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 to ten
wor Bobby.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
Good morning courtage. How are you sir? Happy new year?
Do you so, sir?
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Oh? Thank you, thank you. It's been greater. Had a
two week run here substituting for the best in talk radio,
Mark Sabone and can't get any better than that.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
And I also know a good friend of yours that
used to do Elvison Personaeder dear Elvis Paul Daniels.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Oh yes, Paul lifelong and a good Polish American too,
who I might.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
Add absolutely yes, he is definitely well. Anyway, I want
to say, what is uh the airplane, the helicopter pilot
and hook, who's gonna do at the outer bridge? Which? Uh,
you know how how bad that is? They picked every
other thing, but they can't fix the outer bridge, the.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Outer bridge crossing. How many people over the years have
done the hop skipping a jump? You know what that is?
Is he they start out in Brooklyn, they cross of Arizona,
they go to the south shore of Staten Island, then
across the outer Bridge crossing, go down to Manalapana, Jersey Shore.
Next stop might be Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, parts unknown.
(34:49):
It all starts with the outer Bridge crossing. Are there 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 to all the greats in
(35:11):
this thing of ours that we love so much talk radio,
from Barry Gray to Bob Grant, to Barry Farbird and
Samuels to Bernard McGirk, all the people who paved the way.
None of them, though, suffered like Bernard McGirk suffered. You
(35:33):
just have no idea what it was like to be
in the Imus cage in the morning. He had to
deal with that monster, and then he had to prepare
the show. He had to keep don Imus going. And
then when his dream came 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
(35:54):
to bring up my friends, said Rose Murty from Florida,
who had lost every job down there and had just
been fired from another radio station. I don't know why,
but they were a great partnership. Twenty sixteen. Sid was
for Hillary really legitimately, and Brenald McGirk was a Trumper
(36:15):
before many became Trumpers. And then when Sid thought it
could be his own, watch out 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 his house. Hey, look, God bless
all of you out there. If you don't want to
(36:37):
stay in the land of Mondami, 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 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
(37:02):
lived as a man of honor. He died as a
man of honor.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
The voice that fights for New York literally Curtis Leewad
guest hose for Mark Simone on sevent tenor.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
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 thing AI. It releases demons. Now
(37:41):
they don't care because they're making millions billions of dollars.
People are gonna be wiped out, they're going to lose
their employment salesforce. Amazon already said we don't need you anymore.
We got artificial intelligence. Yeah, and then they're going to
have to build these massive data centers, which requires double
(38:02):
the 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. You're not gonna
need people to do it. They got a white college job.
You lived the American dream, you went four years of
(38:23):
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 are making money hand over fist.
(38:43):
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, by by the way, you know
the person who's gonna be happiest at Mark Simona is
back on Monday. It's gonna be great WABC. That guy
he's been tortured for like two weeks because he did
(39:05):
all of his show prep by listening to the best
in talk radio, Mark Simone. And you should too.
Now the Red Beret has returned to radio. Curtis lee
Wall guest host The Mark Simone Show on sevent Tenor.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Oh, I heard that update about Governor Schrrell from a
congress woman. She's going on a diner tour. Boy. Nobody
is from Jack Ciarelli any longer. Remember he was the
big maga trumper guy this time around, third time around,
and her whole campaign was affordabily, cost the living, and
(00:36):
he washed. But you don't hear from him at all.
I don't know what he plans on doing. I've known Jack.
There's a good candidate, but the voters were interested in,
in course, the living, affordability. That's what propelled Johann Mondamia
New York and in other races where Democrats beat republics
(01:00):
around the country and maywell end up determining the fate
of the House of Representative. You know Trump, there was
all fake news, fake nord. 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,
(01:20):
Bob Graham. He was here on two different occasions 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 de scratsiata what a shot though,
Remember she's the one who was the EPA chieftains for
(01:40):
Bush forty three and in the aftermath of the attack
of nine eleven said, oh, no toxins in the air.
You don't need gloves or masks or has matt suits.
Just inhal Xl. Look how many died, Look how many
still suffered. But anyway, at that time it was Governor Florio,
(02:01):
and Bob grand single handedly got her elected. He coined
the phrase Florio Free in ninety three. And 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 Texas. And Bob Grant
took Christine Todd with lists of patrician by the hand,
(02:24):
took her on the bus tour from Camden County to
Hudson County. Of course the stopover at his favorite haunt,
the Rio Diner and 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 comeback in Jersey
City to become the mayor, as he addressed a nation
(02:47):
later on and said, I am a gay American. You
know that is Yeah, like Cormoll, he attempted to come back.
He was the mayor of Woodbridge at the time. Jim
McGready greed and he crashed in burnerw Jersey City. But anyway,
the point being is Bob Grant's single handedly took this
(03:10):
woman and got her elected, and then, in typical political fashion,
she stuck the shive in his back, came up, did
an interview in the studios at WABC at that time
at two pen Plaza, Madison Square Garden. Here's the guy
who got her elected. And because people were calling Bob
Grant a racist, she chimed in, oh yeah, she was
(03:35):
stabbing him in the back. And Bob was 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.
(03:59):
It doesn't matter. They care only about themselves. And that
was clearly evidenced the Christine Todd Whitless, miserable person, but
she had no loyalty. The guy who did have loyalty,
(04:21):
it's the great Bernard McGirk. And I say great because
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's where Wesley Snipes grew up. Yeah, Wesley,
pay your taxes. They never did. And many others who
(04:42):
grew up there. But when you were white back then,
you were the minority, and it 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
(05:05):
him to give him a beat down. And as you know,
Bernard was a tough guy. It 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 youon because overnight you know how
dangerous that is. Back then the slowbine projects, Milford Gardens, thugs,
(05:28):
and then late at night, you know who's China hail
at back then livery cabs, it's pimps, 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
(05:49):
it was cash and carry. And then he fell into radio.
It's one of the best 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
(06:16):
one person who was able to turn it around for
don Imus, who depended on which day it was, it
was probably in a really bad mood. If I remember correctly,
there was Imus, Charles McCord, his newsguy, Rob Bartlett Loifino,
(06:38):
who is now sid Rosenberg's wingman. If he hadn't gotten
Lui 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 and situation
(07:01):
with Rutgers, which I think occurred in about two thousand
and seven. All of a sudden, MSNBC canceled them because
they were simulcast, and then WFA and canceled them. Fired,
the imish 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
(07:24):
a scarlet letter on them. They were called races, which,
let me tell you something. Bernard McGirr coughing 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
Bruckna in the heart of the South Bronx. He was
no racist. Probably the saddest moment that I experienced on
(07:50):
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
(08:11):
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 of WRKO in Boston. I was leading
(08:32):
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 mean
(08:57):
Massachusetts Legislature, Tom Finnerant 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,
(09:20):
they decided not to take him. Honest, but what that
would have helped 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 SoundBite.
They're the worst. He goes, no, you're right, I needed Bernie.
So once again, Bernard McGirk was off into the ABYSS,
(09:41):
labeled a 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
(10:04):
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, it soundedlikes
so this would have been a major departure for them.
I don't know what happened, but negotiations broke down and
(10:30):
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 Imis in the morning and his
crew to replace Curtis and Koby. They fired Koby and
they put me in a box doing overnight radio, and
(10:52):
that was syndicated across the nation. But they weren't gonna
let me go. They said it 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
(11:15):
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 i'mus. Bernard would
read the books, he would give him the questions to ask.
There was sometimes Imus was almost incoherent, and Bernard McGirk
(11:38):
would save the day whether i'mus 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 hosts, and he said to management
and ownership, I want to be able to bring up
(11:58):
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
(12:19):
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 Lupeka, the sports writer at at the Daly News.
Great sports writer, but horrible talk show hosts. And I
(12:40):
must say, convince him. You don't have to come into
the station. You could do it from your basement in
New Canaan. Yeah, just destroy the station even more, saying God,
they listened 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 men, never took that PSA test. A simple prick
(13:04):
of 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 prostate 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,
folks listening out there, you have the right to nag them,
(13:26):
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 the stall
and do a squad And for us, that's nonsense. I
had stage four prostate cancer. But Bernie was old school.
(13:50):
And when we return, I'll tell you exactly what happened there.
For one year, this guy suffered and you continue 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 had
(14:15):
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 to a great
(14:40):
all round figure in 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 (15:00):
Curtis Sliwa a guest host the Mark Simone Show on
seven tenor.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Every year when I was at 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 Massacus 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
(15:30):
McGirk is 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,
(15:51):
who 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. 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
(16:12):
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
(16:36):
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,
(16:57):
where even the launch jockey's away. 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 in twenty eighteen.
(17:22):
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 Sid. You could tell there
was like resistance resistance. It's like Sid wanted to talk sports,
(17:45):
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, and help do a
(18:05):
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 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, you might end
up like Bernard McGirt and so many others that you knew.
(18:28):
There was nobody healthier than Bernard mcgirky, lived in Long Beach,
his wife, his 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 like Lawrence of
the Arabia with a shive in his hand. Because only
(18:51):
emotionally disturbing and homeless people are taken over Penn Station.
I know we and the Guardian Angels were caring for him,
and I would see I would see Bernard to merge, man,
you didn't want to mess with bern Ar McGirk. He
was prepared, but he was gonna get to that station.
And it was a great team. In the morning, now
(19:14):
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. Luckily I survived. He didn't.
(19:35):
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 he went into his liver
(19:55):
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 listening to Bernard McGirk filled
(20:17):
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,
it's my favorite morning show. Meantime you knew it was Charlemagne,
that god right, they tell the Mighty Whities. Yeah, you're
(20:38):
my favorite show. You in said, meantime, he's listening to Charlemagne,
the guy. 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.
(21:00):
But the fact was that Sid was having a tough
time carrying 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,
(21:22):
with Ron Coolby, done a lot of morning shot and Nope,
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
(21:44):
and others, and he was learning. And then one morning
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 as
the excure I don't want him here anymore. He never
wanted a partner to begin with, big mistake, and then
(22:08):
thankfully they brought over from here wr the former Border
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
(22:31):
the attack against all the Israelis and others in the
southern end of Israel, thousand, two hundred killed, two hundred
and fifty kidnapped, and said, who had never really been
in tune with his Jewish roots, would always complain to
wish I had been born as Supreme Cugiene. He'll admit it.
(22:52):
Suddenly discovered his Jewish roots, and I may have created
the monster that he is now. And I dubbed him
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 Jews. And I'm saying to myself,
(23:17):
you know, there's more to this 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
(23:38):
I'm telling you, I would not be here if we're
not 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. He doesn't like to
(24:00):
talk about it now. And the ultimate Trumper before there
was MAGA was Bernard McGirt. 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 who made this thing of
(24:23):
ours possible, shame on us. You just don't understand how
much abuse Bernard mcgirth was subjected to by don Imus.
How he kept that team together. He was the CONSIGLIERI
i'mus was out of control. Charles McCord, Rob Bartlett, lit Rafino,
(24:44):
all the others. He would be 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 Imus the lines. Did don ever acknowledge that? Of
course not? It's it ever that, of course not, And
all Bernard McGirk wanted to do with his own program.
(25:07):
Let's be the bus 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
(25:28):
may not have ever 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 to two one zero seven ten.
(25:48):
This is wor seven ten, the Voice of New York,
and it should be if you haven't listened before your
newfound station, the False of New York. On the Voice
of New York.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Curtis Sleewald guess Hose from Marks them All on sevent tenor.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
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 Sleeper family now, and don't be
a massacres and go back to WABC always blaming Curtis
for Zorah Mandamian, always bashing Curtis. I mean, that's what
(26:30):
they do. Let's go to the phones if we can.
And first up in the queue is Diane, who is
calling from Summit. Your turn to be heard here on
seven ten WOR. Diane.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Oh, thank you, Curtis. I'm so grateful to speak with you.
I cannot tell you how tholve them with emotion, I am.
I'm grateful to speak with you. I live to listen
to you, and what you did speaking of Bernhard was
so touching. However, I don't want to speak in an
(27:07):
emotional fashion. I have a few quick comments to make.
It was terribly disturbing, disgraceful and disappointing that the previous
a W place you worked, uh this you know, regarding you,
that spoke about you after you've been such a royal person.
(27:33):
I listen to you regularly. You are you would have
good best manure you are very intelligent. Codis I really
speak my heart? Would I tell you how much I
admire you. I'm trying to be so emotional, but no, no.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
No, no, you have you have a right to be
emotional again. Feel for you.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Speaking for I'm speaking for the community. I'm speaking for
many people.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Right But I want to focus not so much on me.
I'm still alive and well at least I think for today.
With all the people whould love to kill me, that's
been my history, It's okay, So I love that. Edm
song bunt Oh. I enjoy I enjoy this day, another
(28:26):
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 grown 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,
(28:48):
who is not here. And if you want to honor
bern All McGirk as I do every year, as you
should do, the way you can do it every day
is to warn 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
(29:10):
from doctor Gil lead him 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 McGirt did.
So keep that in mind. That's how that's how you
(29:31):
honor the memory of Bernard McGirt to 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. I
we can with Chris, who is calling from Beth Page.
Your turn to be heard here at seven to ten
WOR Chris.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Thank Curtis.
Speaker 5 (29:51):
I used to listen to and call you a lot
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 Sid will even
say he goes, I love Curtis. I'm not you know,
(30:14):
I'm sorry that this election got between you guys. It's
just it's lunacy to me that this has happened was tremendous.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Well, you have to understand, you have to understand that
all when he was saying that testio, remember the godfather,
whoever arranged the meeting is the trader, that's it, who
all along was contacting people to vote for Cuomo, encouraging
(30:42):
people to jump from my campaign to the Cuomo campaign. Look,
I have all the evidences, 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. He
(31:03):
never dealt with politics before. He is a sports guy,
and then he became a homo 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.
Lu Rafino does a great job as his wingman. The
(31:24):
board operator was great with Imans 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 Sid.
Now I could, because obviously I have more credit, I'm older,
I have more experience than Sid. There but others couldn't.
(31:45):
He 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. Let does Barney talk? You know, sit in friends,
I love you, you love me? And then, my god,
(32:07):
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
(32:29):
more loyal than Bernard. Look at all those years with Imus.
Look at all those years he kept that program together.
Look at all those years that he would be beaten
down each and every day by Imus, who was a monster,
and then he'd be the one to rally Charles McCord
and Rob Bartlett and Lou Rafino and the other contributors
(32:54):
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 Sid. Now he thought he didn't need anybody. He does.
You can't just do an eye on me show. You
(33:15):
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 to ten
wor Bobby.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
Good morning courtage. How are you sir? Happy new year?
Do you so, sir?
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Oh? Thank you, thank you. It's been greater. Had a
two week run here substituting for the best in talk radio,
Mark Sabone and can't get any better than that.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
And I also know a good friend of yours that
used to do Elvison Personaeder dear Elvis Paul Daniels.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Oh yes, Paul lifelong and a good Polish American too,
who I might.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
Add absolutely yes, he is definitely well. Anyway, I want
to say, what is uh the airplane, the helicopter pilot
and hook, who's gonna do at the outer bridge? Which? Uh,
you know how how bad that is? They picked every
other thing, but they can't fix the outer bridge, the.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Outer bridge crossing. How many people over the years have
done the hop skipping a jump? You know what that is?
Is he they start out in Brooklyn, they cross of Arizona,
they go to the south shore of Staten Island, then
across the outer Bridge crossing, go down to Manalapana, Jersey Shore.
Next stop might be Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, parts unknown.
(34:49):
It all starts with the outer Bridge crossing. Are there 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 to all the greats in
(35:11):
this thing of ours that we love so much talk radio,
from Barry Gray to Bob Grant, to Barry Farbird and
Samuels to Bernard McGirk, all the people who paved the way.
None of them, though, suffered like Bernard McGirk suffered. You
(35:33):
just have no idea what it was like to be
in the Imus cage in the morning. He had to
deal with that monster, and then he had to prepare
the show. He had to keep don Imus going. And
then when his dream came 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
(35:54):
to bring up my friends, said Rose Murty from Florida,
who had lost every job down there and had just
been fired from another radio station. I don't know why,
but they were a great partnership. Twenty sixteen. Sid was
for Hillary really legitimately, and Brenald McGirk was a Trumper
(36:15):
before many became Trumpers. And then when Sid thought it
could be his own, watch out 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 his house. Hey, look, God bless
all of you out there. If you don't want to
(36:37):
stay in the land of Mondami, 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 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
(37:02):
lived as a man of honor. He died as a
man of honor.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
The voice that fights for New York literally Curtis Leewad
guest hose for Mark Simone on sevent tenor.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
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 thing AI. It releases demons. Now
(37:41):
they don't care because they're making millions billions of dollars.
People are gonna be wiped out, they're going to lose
their employment salesforce. Amazon already said we don't need you anymore.
We got artificial intelligence. Yeah, and then they're going to
have to build these massive data centers, which requires double
(38:02):
the 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. You're not gonna
need people to do it. They got a white college job.
You lived the American dream, you went four years of
(38:23):
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 are making money hand over fist.
(38:43):
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, by by the way, you know
the person who's gonna be happiest at Mark Simona is
back on Monday. It's gonna be great WABC. That guy
he's been tortured for like two weeks because he did
(39:05):
all of his show prep by listening to the best
in talk radio, Mark Simone. And you should too.
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