#Republicans see opening in 2021 New York City mayoral race

New York City’s perennially endangered Republicans are casting an increasingly confident eye at Gracie Mansion.

As race riots, depression and a deadly pandemic continue to engulf the city, local GOP grandees believe they have a real chance at taking back the mayoralty in 2021.

”I have a theory. New Yorkers are Pavlovian Democrats. They vote Democrat and they don’t even think about it,” former GOP Mayor Giuliani told The Post. “Baltimore and Chicago are hell holes, but New York City is the city it is because every once in a while it gets so bad that New Yorkers can’t take it.”

Giuliani likened his close victory over Mayor Dinkins in 1993 as one such pivot point and compared it to the Republican triumph of Fiorello La Guardia in 1934. Giuliani said Mayor de Blasio and the city’s current Democrats reminded him of the decadent Tammany Hall liberals of the roaring ’20s, specifically disgraced Mayor Jimmy Walker, who was forced to resign in 1932.

“[Mike Bloomberg] handed over a really well-run business and I always knew it would take a while for de Blasio to ruin it. He lived in prior glory. But now it’s all falling apart. The emperor never had any clothes and now we all know,” Giuliani said.

Giuliani said not only is there an opening for a Republican in 2021, but he would enthusiastically campaign for any qualified candidate — with his strongest preference being supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis, who has been publicly weighing whether to take another stab at the job.

“John is the elder statesman,” Giuliani said. “He’s been doing his radio show. He’s become much more knowledgeable about the problems of the city. He runs a very successful company. He has the skills of a businessman.“

Cats hasn’t officially jumped into the race yet, but the billionaire has been dieting and is down 60 pounds, according to a friend.

Besides other well-worn aspirants for the job like Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, a number of other candidates are currently exploring a run.

Sara Tirschwell, CFO of the mental health nonprofit Foundation House, is currently being vetted and has already sat for a meeting to discuss possibilities with Manhattan GOP boss Andrea Catsimatidis and two GOP consultants assisting her in the search, Rob Cole and John Schiffbauer. Tirschwell, a former hedge fund manager at TCW, is also open to taking a stab at city comptroller.

Nicole Gelinas, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute who is an expert in transportation and infrastructure issues, has also expressed interest in the job, reaching out to Schiffbauer directly about the possibility of running. The party is also scouting Kelly Mack, the president of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, for a possible run. Mack is the daughter-in-law of real estate honcho Bill Mack.

Republicans see crime, a grim hallmark of the pre-Giuliani era, as a bellwether for their chances. The first three months of 2020 saw a notable spike in major crimes — with 2,500 more major felonies, according to NYPD statistics. Republicans expect massive cuts to the NYPD budget to exacerbate that.