Divorcing New York Mayor declares love for his mistress
New York’s mayor today departed from his usual blunt talking to pledge his love for his mistress.
Rudy Giuliani is at the centre of a bitter divorce battle with his estranged wife Donna Hanover, but today spoke of his love for Judith Nathan, the 46-year-old divorcee he had previously called ‘‘a very good friend’’.
The move is the latest twist in the battle between the mayor who cleaned up New York and his actress wife, who he announced he was divorcing last October - before he told her face-to-face.
Today he said he hoped his relationship with Ms Nathan, who his wife is said to call simply ‘‘that woman’’, would last forever. ‘‘My relationship with Judi Nathan is an adult love,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s a mature one. It’s one that’s gone on for two years and I hope it’s going to go on forever.’’
Giuliani’s divorce comes as he battles prostate cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease at the same time as he announced his divorce, forcing him to pull out of a bid to beat Hilary Clinton in the race for the New York seat in the American Senate.
‘‘I needed somebody to support me and to help me, and a number of my friends did,’’ he said.
‘‘Some didn’t. But some did. But nobody did more to help me than Judith. ‘‘She’s a very caring and loving person, so she doesn’t deserve this. All she was trying to do was help me.
‘‘You don’t get through cancer all by yourself. You don’t get through treatment for cancer and radiation all by yourself.
‘‘I’ll be eternally grateful to her.’’
The bitter divorce battle has enthralled New Yorkers, who are more used to their straight-talking mayor’s forthright attacks on his opponents and his zero-tolerance crackdown on crime.
He has been credited with cleaning up the crime-ridden city and making it safe for business and tourists during his eight-year term, which ends next year.
But he was forced to call off his lawyer, Raoul Felder, dubbed Foul Mouthed Felder for his attacks on Ms Hanover.
He branded her ‘‘an uncaring mother’’, accusing her of banishing her husband to a guest room and forcing him to clean up after himself as he vomited eight times a night as a side-effect of chemotherapy.
In return, her lawyer Helene Brezinsky claimed Giuliani was ‘‘flaunting his mistress’’ and has applied for a court order to ban Ms Nathan from Gracie Mansion, the official mayor’s residence which the battling ex-couple bizarrely still share.
