Grocery Magnate Catsimatidis' Outsider, Establishment Campaign

John Catsimatidis is affable, proudly unpolished, and really rich. Forbes lists his net worth at around $3 billion dollars. His self-financed campaign has all the trappings of a quixotic, longshot bid for mayor -- except he's got many friends in the political establishment. 

At forum after forum, John Catsimatidis points to his own immigrant success story and appeals to patriotism, even to questions about things like congestion pricing.

“God bless them if they want to drive. That’s what America is all about!” he declared at a Park Slope forum this month.

In interviews, Catsimatidis’ down-to-earth style can sound more stream of consciousness than the rehearsed talking points of a candidate for office. Like when he suggested to Brian Lehrer that “there’s global warming all over the solar system, among the other planets too.” Lehrer followed up, to ask if that was relevant, and Catsimatidis held his ground.

“You asked me for the scientific answer, I gave you the scientific answer.”

Catsimatidis is best known as the owner of Gristides, the pricey Manhattan grocery chain, but he’s made his real money in oil and gas and real estate. Catsimatidis disarms with his passion about being a New Yorker, and his pride in his family. Like, when he described a tie he frequently wears on the campaign trail – that features two pink two doves and a heart.

“You know, I design ties as a hobby,” he told WNYC, pointing to the “Designed by John Catsimatidis" tag sewn on the back. “The two doves were the symbol of my daughter’s wedding to Christopher Nixon Cox.”

Yes, that Nixon -- the grandson of President Richard Nixon, and the son of Ed Cox, the chairman of the New York Republican Party.

The guests at that wedding included then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

So, Catsimatidis is not only super-rich, off-the-cuff, and at times a little odd – he’s also totally enmeshed in political life – and not just in New York.

He showed WNYC the evidence in a tour of his office in 2006. He pointed to a picture of President George H. W. Bush at Camp David, where Catsimatidis paid for the chapel.

“The library at the Chapel at Camp David is named after my daughter,” he said, and added proudly, “We had the surprise birthday in my apartment of Bill Clinton when he was president.”

That close friendship with the Clintons continues to this day. Catsimatidis acknowledged last week that the Clinton Foundation still regularly borrows his corporate jet for travel. 

He’s also given lots of money in local politics. He supported Democrat David Dinkins in 1989 and 1993, then Republican Rudy Giuliani in 1997. He donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo, and Republican George Pataki. State Senate Republicans have also gotten regular support.

And now that he’s in the Republican primary, he’s getting some love back from his beneficiaries in the GOP, with endorsements from Pataki and Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos. But Catsimatidis brushes off suggestions that any of his support has been bought. "I’m giving far less money than Bloomberg gave, so give me a break!” he told reporters last week. 

Republican Councilman Eric Urlich says Catsimatidis may compare himself to the current mayor, but he’s no Bloomberg.

“He’s surrounded himself with a bunch of consultants and a bunch of hacks and a bunch of other people who are telling him, yes John, you’re doing great. Yes, John, you’re going to be the next mayor,” Ulrich said. “And the reality is he’s not and everybody knows it!”

John Catsimatidis says he’s used to this, and he told NY1 last month, that’s part of what motivates him. He said people have counted him out since his days growing up an immigrant in Upper Manhattan.

“Born on a Greek island with just rocks, on 135^th Street in Harlem, and I became one of the most successful businessmen in the United States, not just in New York City,” Catsimatidis said. “I hope people underestimate me.”