Greeks have no rights and john does nothing

another Greek getting stomped by Andrew Cuomo and Unions such as Teamsters Local 707 that are against work, freedom to work, freedom of religion etc.

Catsimatidis Announces Bid for Mayor

John A. Catsimatidis Runs for Mayor: John A. Catsimatidis, the Greek-born billionaire, said that he will seek the Republican nomination to be the next mayor of New York City.

By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM

Published: January 29, 2013

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• Save
• E-mail
• Share
• Print
• Reprints
• 

John A. Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of the Gristedes grocery chain, stood on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday and announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for mayor of New York City.

Connect with NYTMetro

Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for news and conversation.

Enlarge This Image

Damon Winter/The New York Times

John A. Catsimatidis, at City Hall on Tuesday, is seen as a long shot to win the race but is wealthy enough to mount an impressive advertising campaign.

Then he started talking about his suit.

“I think my wife paid $100 for this jacket,” Mr. Catsimatidis, who bills himself a “common billionaire,” said as he gripped the lapel of a plus-size Jos. A. Bank blazer. “I’m not wearing a $5,000 suit.” He warned his daughter, standing nearby, that he would not be buying her an $80 million apartment. Later, he added, “I feel the people’s pain.”

“There were times in the ’80s,” Mr. Catsimatidis, a 64-year-old Upper East Sider, said, “when I was afraid to walk from Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue.”

It was an unconventional announcement from an unconventional candidate, a corporate dealmaker with no political experience, no natural constituency and little support among the city’s chattering class.

But Mr. Catsimatidis, who appeared to be enjoying himself immensely during Tuesday’s event, does have an estimated $3 billion fortune — more than enough to mount a formidable advertising operation and, at the very least, be a thorn in the side of a crowded Republican field of candidates who are little known to the public.

An immigrant from Greece who made much of his fortune in the oil business, Mr. Catsimatidis (pronounced Cah-tsee-mah-TEE-dees) said he wanted to give back to a city that had served him well. “I’m a visionary; I’m not a maintenance person,” he declared, going on to say he understood the challenges facing small businesses, partly because his grocery trucks often incur thousands of dollars’ worth of ticket fees.

His labor negotiation strategy involves a locked hotel room and frequent deliveries of pizzas. “By 4 in the morning, everybody becomes a little more reasonable,” he said. “After you eat the third pie of pizza, you get more reasonable.”

On paper, Mr. Catsimatidis resembles another wealthy, long-shot mayoral candidate, Michael R. Bloomberg, whose 2001 bid was initially dismissed as a joke. And while Mr. Catsimatidis lacks some of Mr. Bloomberg’s C.E.O. polish, he has a history of rubbing shoulders with top political players, including several years as a top fund-raiser for Bill and Hillary Clinton. Last year, he supported Mitt Romney, flying friends on his private plane to Republican events around the country.

In 2009, Mr. Catsimatidis spent $300,000 exploring a mayoral bid, but opted out after Mr. Bloomberg decided to run again.

On Tuesday, he stood flanked by his family, including a son-in-law who is a grandson of Richard M. Nixon, and two of the city’s five Republican county chairmen, who have offered their support.

A Catsimatidis campaign, he said, would emphasize growing the city’s economy — partly by reviving the World’s Fair, which he adored as a young boy — and by maintaining public safety. “We’re not giving the streets back to the criminals,” Mr. Catsimatidis said, noting later that his cuff links were a gift from Raymond W. Kelly, the police commissioner.

Some civic leaders remain skeptical that Mr. Catsimatidis will pursue a full-throated candidacy. He dismissed those concerns, saying “I’m in it to win it,” although he backed off an earlier pledge to devote $20 million of his own money to the cause. “Whatever you decide to spend on a campaign, you go in increments,” he explained.

On one pecuniary matter, however, Mr. Catsimatidis was quite clear.

“I am going to work cheaper than Mayor Bloomberg,” he said, referring to the mayor’s decision to take a $1 salary. “I was a grocer. I work for 99 cents.”

A version of this article appeared in print on January 30, 2013, on page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: Catsimatidis Announces Republican Run for Mayor.

 

 

 

Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012

Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.