John Catsimatidis
John Catsimatidis
John A. Catsimatidisis a Greek-American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host. He is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods, the largest grocery chain in Manhattan, and the Red Apple Group, a real estate and aviation company with about $700 million to $800 million in holdings in New York, Florida, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Catsimatidis also owns the Hellenic Times, a Greek-American newspaper based in Manhattan. He is also the chairman and CEO of the Red...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth7 September 1948
I'm not ashamed of being successful. You know, they criticized Romney for being ashamed of it. I think we've got to inspire our kids that we shouldn't be ashamed to be successful.
I could be like Joe Kennedy and say, 'My kids are going to run for president!'
Everyone - whether it's the Jews, the Greeks, the Catholics - everybody is entitled to religious beliefs and entitled to their traditions.
Grocery stores can't afford to pay $80 a square foot. At that rate, we are going out of business.
I think New York is destined to have a Democratic mayor, and I want Freddy Ferrer to be that mayor.
Nobody destroys people - people destroy themselves, and it's very, very sad.
I respect John Kennedy for saying that he had a dream that we'd go to the moon before the end of the decade.
My father died in '97. But at least he lived until 93, so he saw my success.
I am a real New Yorker... I didn't go to Harvard, I didn't go to Yale... I rooted for the Yankees; I didn't root for the Boston Red Sox.
Bill Clinton told me that when he was 14, he shook John Kennedy's hand, and that inspired him to be president.
It seems everyone knows the value of a cantaloupe or a quart of milk.
One mentor I had taught me that people do what you inspect, not necessarily what you expect. In other words, if nobody is watching, there will be some slack off.
I have a love factor with the minorities.
There are two New Yorks - Manhattan and everything else. I'm a Manhattanite. I feel sorry for those people who aren't.