Criminals run wild on our streets thanks to our spineless politicians. Now vigilante citizens are fighting back - and the result will be deadly, writes The Guardian Angels' CURTIS SLIWA

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Curtis Sliwa is the founder of the Guardian Angels and he was the Republican Party's nominee for New York City mayor in 2021. 

How much more can we take?

Every week there is a new shocking video of an outraged New Yorker taking matters into his own hands to fight back against the criminals terrorizing our city.

This weekend in Upper Manhattan a good Samaritan snuck up behind a pair of scooter-riding thugs, who were robbing a man at gunpoint in broad daylight.

The defenseless victim yelled 'help' as they pummeled him. Then one brave and so-far unnamed New York hero came to his rescue.

He took the perps by surprise and grabbed the weapon, wrestling it away as they beat him. Then he chased the cowards down the street with it.

I know exactly what this man was thinking – he'd had enough.

Decades ago, I founded the Guardian Angels to help clean up New York City's streets. I said 'enough' after I was held at gunpoint while working as a night manager at McDonald's.

A dope fiend – hands shaking - held a sawed-off shotgun to my head.

Today the Big Apple and many other American cities feel a lot like it did back then. And I have a warning for the spineless politicians whose feckless policies have turned our cities in hell holes and allowed the criminals to run wild.

(Left) The defenseless victim yelled 'help' as they pummeled him. Then one brave and so-far unnamed New York hero came to his rescue. (Right) He took the perps by surprise and grabbed the weapon, wrestling it away as they beat him. Then he chased the cowards down the street with it.

I've seen what happens when good Samaritans turn to vigilante justice – and if America doesn't get a handle on this lawlessness -- it can turn deadly.

In the late 1970s and 80s, The Guardian Angels patrolled New York's worst neighborhoods in the darkest days of the city. And we did it unarmed.

I was called a vigilante and arrested 77 times, but when the Guardian Angels showed up the people knew that the cavalry had arrived.

Back then the city was threatening to declare bankruptcy and Mayor Ed Koch was laying off police.

NYPD patrols in the subway were non-existent and gangs roamed the platforms and cars – harassing, robbing and humiliating people.

Citizens were walking victims and criminals ruled the day.

In the movie theaters, crowds were cheering on the vigilantes, like Charles Bronson in Death Wish, Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver and Joe Don Baker in Walking Tall.

They lived vicariously through these characters, who refused bow down to bullies.

In the 80s, it was budget cuts devastating our city police force. Today, it's bail reform and 'Defund the Police' doing havoc on a national level.

Cops on the beat are too scared of the progressive backlash to do pro-active policing and the crooks that are arrested are back out of the streets before the officers are done doing the paperwork.

Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams has called the state bail reform laws that prevent judges from locking up these vicious creeps 'insane.'

Decades ago, I founded the Guardian Angels to help clean up New York City's streets. I said 'enough' after I was held at gunpoint while working as a night manager at McDonald's. (Above, center) Author, Curtis Sliwa

I was called a vigilante and arrested 77 times, but when the Guardian Angels showed up the people knew that the cavalry had arrived.

He's right, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is deaf, dumb and blind to the impact of these policies.

NYPD officers are fed-up and leaving the force in record numbers. The percentage of cops retiring before they reach full pension is up 71% from 2021.

Left to fend for themselves ordinary New Yorkers and Americans across the country are fighting back.

Earlier this month, a smoke shop owner in Las Vegas took on three thieves who strolled into his store in ski masks.

One of the masked robbers grabbed his tip jar, another jumped behind the counter. So, Johnny Nguyen grabbed a knife and stabbed one the thugs at least seven times.

In California, an 80-year-old liquor store owner saw a gang of armed men preparing to storm his business. He pulled a shotgun from behind the counter and lit one of them up.

Neither of these criminals were killed.

In New York City, 44-year-old native Ro Malabanan was getting off the subway, when he saw a crazed man sucker punch a construction worker.

Malabanan was told that this guy had just attacked an old man and a child.

Did Malabanan put his head down and keep walking? Nope -- he had enough too.

Malabanan, an MMA-fighter, trained in boxing, judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu chased the bully down and held him until the police arrived.

I applaud these citizens heroes, who stepped up to defend themselves and their communities. I want criminals to be afraid of the people.

Call it self-defense or vigilante justice, but it won't be stopped. The community will fill the void when law enforcement fails to do their job. And public opinion is already on the side of Nguyen, Malabanan and others like them.

When NYC's brain-dead Bragg threw Harlem bodega worker, Jose Alba, in Rikers Island for the crime of defending his life, New Yorkers demanded that he be released.

The charges against Alba, who stabbed his attacker to death inside the store where he was working, were eventually dropped and he walked free.

Malabanan (above with cellphone), an MMA-fighter, trained in boxing, judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu chased the bully down and held him until the police arrived.

One of the masked robbers grabbed his tip jar, another jumped behind the counter. So, Johnny Nguyen (above, left holding a knife) grabbed a knife and stabbed one the thugs at least seven times.

Eerily, his story reminds me of another New Yorker – who said 'enough.'

His name is Bernard Goetz.

Goetz had already been violently mugged for his jacket and thrown through a plate glass window, so when he was surrounded by four teenagers in a subway car late one night in 1984, he knew what was about to happen.

As the teens circled him, Goetz pulled a gun from his pants and fired four shots – striking each of teens.

Then he stood over one of them named Darrell Cabey, looked down and said, 'You don't look so bad' and fired again.

He struck Cabey in the back paralyzing him for life.

Goetz was dubbed the 'subway vigilante' and at first, he was celebrated by the public, including myself.

As we all learned more about what happened that night it became clear that Goetz went too far. And make no mistake, when the vigilante crosses the line into lawlessness the vigilante becomes the criminal, and he must also be held accountable.

One grand jury refused to indict Goetz, but he was eventually charged and convicted of illegal possession of a firearm.

Goetz served his time and returned to the same apartment building where he lives today. The hipsters on the subways don't recognize him, but the baby boomers do.

Goetz (above) had already been violently mugged for his jacket and thrown through a plate glass window, so when he was surrounded by four teenagers in a subway car late one night in 1984, he knew what was about to happen.

Goetz never got into trouble like that again, but his story is a reminder of what happens when the people are left to fend for themselves.

Who knows what would have happened if that good Samaritan in Upper Manhattan had opened fire on those scooter-riding robbers?

If our elected officials will not enforce the law and if they won't let the police do their job, then 'we the people' will fight back.

But it's a thin line between chaos and order. New York City and America must restore law and order before good Samaritans turn to vigilante justice and anarchy reigns.