The Wall Street Journal published a long article on John Catsimatidis of Greek descent, billionaire businessman and candidate for mayor of New York , on May 20, in the U.S. edition of the newspaper with the headline, He doesn’t Lack for Ideas.
Catsimatidis is a Republican who has developed a habit of suggesting new, often off-beat policy proposals in response to questions. For example, he has suggested that police ride three-wheeled vehicles to improve their mobility, while he wants the city to consider allowing casinos in hotels and would like to launch a program to give free pet food to people who adopt homeless animals. He would like a police officer in each of the city’s public housing projects, as reported in The Wall Street Journal.
His Red Apple Group owns the Gristedes supermarket chain, oil and gas business and convenience stores. It can cause problems for Catsimatidis and could be contributing to the perception in the city’s political classes that he isn’t a serious candidate. He has trailed former Rudy Giuliani aide Joe Lhota in recent polls of the Republican primary.
Catsimatidis rejected the notion that his ideas would hurt him: “Everybody has counted me out for the last 40 years in every category. And guess who the winner is?” he said in an interview. “I know what I’m saying, and I know what I’m doing, and I have the courage to say it.”
Earlier this month, Catsimatidis brought up his ideas for tweaking, but not abolishing, the Central Park carriage-horse industry in front of a crowd of animal-rights activists at a forum sponsored by the group leading the charge to eliminate it, according to the article.
“When those horses are ready to retire, you know what I’d like to do? Build a small stable and have them as part of the zoo,” he said. “It’s only a suggestion. That’s the way I feel personally. Because I love animals and I think they should be well treated,” he continued.
As reported in the article, Ester Fuchs, a public affairs professor at Columbia University who has advised Mayor Michael Bloomberg on policy, said Catsimatidis at least deserves credit for suggesting ideas: “He is much more interesting and creative than most people realize,” she said. “You would not necessarily want to implement everything he says, but has anyone else made proposals in those forums that are original or memorable?”
Catsimatidis has based his campaign in part on dreamy ideas, kicking it off with a promise to bring the World’s Fair to New York for a third time in 2014. He said he has a group of 100 leaders in various fields with whom he meets regularly to talk about politics. He declined to name them, according to the newspaper.
At the forums, he said he sometimes comes up with ideas as he sits onstage.
Catsimatidis pointed to an example from his experience running Gristedes. When roast-chicken restaurant Boston Market started expanding its Boston Chicken shops in the city, he had Gristedes start advertising Philadelphia Chicken and selling it at a lower price.
“I’ve been a salesman all my life,” he said. “I know how to market New York City.”
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
