Curtis

JENNIFER Aniston has confirmed her relationship with Jim Curtis in an adorable Instagram post.

The Friends actress, 56, took to her social media grid to upload a snap showing her hugging her wellness coach boyfriend from behind.

The sultry black and white image showed the pair with beaming smiles, with Jennifer seen peeking over his shoulder.

In her caption, she simply wrote: “Happy Birthday my love.

“Cherished.”

She finished off her super-sweet upload with a red Emoji love heart.

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Real Housewives star Kyle Richards posted two love hearts in reply, while model Poppy Delevingne added the word: “Heaven.”

The relationship reveal came just weeks after the Marley and Me star flashed her rock hard abs in a glam new photoshoot.

The chick flick actress has been rumoured to be in a relationship with Jim Curtis, a hypnotist and wellness expert, since earlier this summer.

At the time, the pair were pictured on a yacht in Mallorca in July.

Recently, the loved-up couple were snapped on a double date at Nobu restaurant in Malibu, California.

The couple were set up by mutual friends.

This is the first time Jennifer has gone public with a boyfriend since her split from husband Justin Theroux in 2017.

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The pair’s relationship has been put under the spotlight of late.

“They are being super private but have been spending a lot of time together,” an unnamed source told Us Weekly.

“They are happy and really into each other.”

The source added: “They’ve been hanging out a lot, but very much on the DL at her home in L.A… it’s very Zen, and she has always been very much into that. They’re a good match.”

Jennifer has been dropping hints that the pair are an item, including ‘liking’ many of Jim’s Instagram posts since May, including one about “a divorce, breakup or difficult romance.”

Jim then returned the favour on her May 25 post of a photo dump that included an image of his book, Shift: Quantum Manifestation Guide.

The wellness guru has described his journey to becoming a hypnotist, saying it started with healing himself.

“After battling with a chronic illness for over 30 years, I learned how to heal and recover from the mental and physical pain it left me with,” Jim writes on his website.

“Through doing the inner work, I not only changed my life, but I’ve helped thousands of others break free from their past to create an entirely new, empowered reality.”

Jennifer, 56, first met ex-husband and fellow actor, Justin in 2007, before beginning their relationship in 2011.

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They married in 2015, announcing their split two years later and their subsequent divorce.

Recently, the screen star bravely opened up on her attempts to have a baby for 20 years.

The New York City mayoral election is dominated by Democrats, a reflection of the US metropolis’s deeply liberal bent. But a Republican could make the difference in the race.

Candidate Curtis Sliwa has remained defiant ahead of the November 4 election, shrugging off appeals from some top conservatives to drop out and boost the chances of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after being routed in June’s Democratic primary.

Some political observers see Sliwa’s exit as the only way for Cuomo to have a shot at defeating frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, who has surged to the top of voter polls on a Democratic Socialist platform.

“New Yorkers are tired of Andrew Cuomo, but Andrew Cuomo doesn’t seem to understand when ‘no’ means ‘no’,” said Rusat Ramgopal, Sliwa’s deputy campaign manager, with a pointed reference to the sexual misconduct allegations that forced Cuomo from his post as New York State’s governor in 2021.

Sliwa has also doled out blows to both of his opponents.

“Zohran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin, and Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City,” he said during the final mayoral debate on October 22.

Sliwa has also dipped into the same Islamophobic tropes perpetuated by Mamdani’s critics, falsely claiming during the final debate that the leading candidate supports “global jihad”.

Local showman or subway hero?

So who is Curtis Sliwa? It is a question that has dogged Sliwa since he rose to prominence as the leader of the Guardian Angels, a volunteer crime-fighting group that became famous for its patrols of the New York City subway system.

Supporters have identified with the do-it-yourself ethos of the group, which Sliwa started in 1979, when he was a 24-year-old night manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in the Bronx. Many continue to hail him as an emblem of New Yorkers stepping up when city administration fails.

“When people see that red beret, they think about subway safety, public safety. They remember what he’s done for the city,” Ramgopal said.

“He is a larger-than-life figure who’s been integral to New York life for so many decades at this point.”

Others have accused the Guardian Angels, who do not carry weapons, of perpetuating a dangerous brand of vigilantism. The group has also faced criticism for alleged racial profiling, demonising immigrants, and wrongfully accusing individuals of committing crimes.

On the campaign trail, Sliwa has regularly condemned “migrant” crime.

The authenticity of the group’s exploits have been scrutinised, with Sliwa admitting in 1992 that he faked some crimes to boost publicity.

In recent years, Sliwa has been a candidate in local politics, a radio host and a media personality.

What are his platforms?

Unsurprisingly, Sliwa has made public safety, particularly in the transit system, the focus of his campaign. Even as crime dropped, Sliwa maintained the city is “facing a crisis of crime, lawlessness and failed leadership”.

He has vowed to hire 7,000 new New York Police Department (NYPD) officers, re-up controversial police units, and — as his website puts it — “enhance proactive and intrusive policing strategies to target illegal firearm carriers, repeat offenders, and violent criminals before crimes occur”.

Critics have said those strategies have historically led to increased racial profiling, the over-policing of minority communities, and intrusions on civil liberties.

He has also pushed affordability, an issue that has been dominant this campaign season, pledging to overhaul the system the city currently uses to coordinate with affordable housing programmes.

In addition, Sliwa, who owns several cats, has made animal protection a key plank of his campaign.

What do supporters see in him?

As the only right-wing candidate in the race, Sliwa has strong support among registered Republicans, who comprise 11 percent of New York’s 4.7 million registered voters.

Despite rising to prominence decades ago, he continues to rally new supporters.

“His work with the Guardian Angels has resonated with me a lot,” Shan Singh, a 30-year-old cab driver from Richmond Hill, Queens, told Al Jazeera.

Singh had previously been a Democrat but switched his support to US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election. He perceives the recent protests that have swept the city as dangerous.

The fact that Sliwa is trailing in the polls, he added, is not enough to lose his vote.

“Regardless of the numbers, Curtis is the person who seems most real to me,” he said.

Russell, a 28-year-old from Brooklyn who asked that his last name be withheld, came out to show support for Sliwa ahead of the first mayoral debate in midtown Manhattan.

He said both Cuomo and Mamdani were too soft on crime, and he took particular issue with their support for bail reform programmes, designed to eliminate cash bail for low-level offences and avoid mass incarceration.

“It emboldens criminals to keep committing crimes, because there are no repercussions for it,” Russell said.

Does he have any chance at winning?

Short of a miracle, Sliwa has no real path to victory. The latest Quinnipiac University poll found he had the support of 14 percent of likely voters. That paled in comparison to Mamdani’s 43 percent and Cuomo’s 33 percent support.

That’s why Cuomo has pushed so hard for him to exit the race. The former governor made repeated overtures to conservative voters, saying a vote for Sliwa is, in essence, a vote for Mamdani.

Cuomo has even left the door open to giving Sliwa a role in his administration if he were to drop out.

As of yet, the appeals have been to no avail. It also remains unclear how many of Sliwa’s staunchest supporters would be willing to cross party lines.

“If Sliwa leaves the race, I wouldn’t vote for either [Cuomo or Mamdani],” Russell told Al Jazeera.