NEW YORK — With early voting set to begin Saturday across the city in the race for mayor, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa says his wealth of "street cred" sets him far apart from his opponent.

Speaking on "Mornings On 1" Friday, Sliwa said New Yorkers are wrong if they think the race is already a done deal that will hand Democrat Eric Adams the keys to City Hall.

"There is an election and it's important for people to get out and vote," Sliwa said.

The Guardian Angels founder, who is running on the Republican and Independence Party lines, says what also sets him apart from Adams on the issue of public safety is his personal stance on guns. 

Sliwa said he has never carried a firearm and won't in the future — a message he wants the city's youth to understand. 

"I've spent a lot of my time in the inner city where young males feel they need to carry a gun for retribution, retaliation, to protect themselves. I think we gotta go out there, we've got to be role models," Sliwa said.

Adams said earlier this year that he would carry a gun if elected mayor. 

On the issue of Rikers Island, Sliwa says he wants to see the jail complex fixed but not shut down.

He also says, if elected, he would interview Latino and Latina candidates to become the city's next police commissioner.

Sliwa touched on the city's gifted and talented program in schools, saying it should stay in place and have the number of seats increased.

He also said he's opposed to the congestion pricing plan, saying it will crush the middle class and commuters coming into Manhattan from other parts of the city and New Jersey.