This New York City deli is on a roll.
A Queens shop unveiled “The Curtis Sliwa Hero” this week — with ingredients as spicy as the Republican mayoral nominee himself — but sandwiches named after his election opponents would be far less delectable, the owner said.
Joe DiGangi, of Mario’s Meats and Gourmet Deli in Middle Village, lauded the infamous Guardian Angels founder as “the only true New Yorker candidate,” as he revealed the stomach-churning hypothetical concoctions he’d put together for the other mayoral hopefuls.
“Cuomo — bread and water! That’s it,” DiGangi told The Post on Friday about what ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s sandwich would be — before offering to add a cold-cut for the independent candidate.
“What do they give to people in prison? Since Cuomo likes to let all the prisoners out — they probably get extra baloney — so give him a baloney sandwich for Cuomo,” he said, referring to the controversial criminal justice reforms passed by the three-term Democrat.
The term “baloney” was also a favorite of Cuomo’s while in office, famously becoming his go-to PG-alternative when calling out what he considered BS.
For Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, the right-leaning DiGangi just said he’s show the socialist front-runner the front door.
“We could send him to one of his government-run supermarkets so he could get some for free over there,” he said, referring to one of Mamdani’s campaign platforms.
“I wouldn’t let him in the store.”
DiGangi left no question about his support for the red beret-wearing Republican contender when he began hawking a $16 Italian-style sandwich this week in his honor.
“The Curtis Sliwa Hero” features grilled chicken, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella and arugula, with spicy calabrese chili spread on fresh ciabatta — ingredients said he picked to represent the subway safety vigilante’s personality.
“We did the roasted red peppers because of his red beret,” DiGangi said.
“I needed to put something spicy in it, that’s why I used the spicy calabrese chilis on the sandwich because as New Yorkers, we all got a mouth and we all got spiciness to us,” he said.
“The spiciness of the New York attitude,” DiGangi continued, “he has that New York tongue on him that when somebody says something, he has an answer for somebody right away.”
The sandwich is Italian-style in homage to Sliwa’s half Italian and half Polish heritage.
The deli has sold about 80 of the namesake heroes since the dish was launched as “Mario’s Sandwich of the Month” on Tuesday evening, which DiGangi said was unusually high for such a simple sub.
Sliwa came in to chow down on the sandwich this week, calling the honor the “ultimate New York salute.”
“He’s the only true New Yorker candidate out there, and he actually cares about the city,” said DiGangi, who also voted for Sliwa during his unsuccessful run against Mayor Eric Adams in 2021.
“Definitely don’t want Cuomo in there and Mamdani is clueless,” the deli owner said. “Cuomo, we can’t forget what he did for COVID, so he needs to get lost and he lost already so I don’t know what he’s doing in there.”
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