Supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis wants to be the city’s next billionaire mayor — and he’s willing to do the job at a discount.
“I was a grocer, I’ll work for 99 cents,” Catsimatidis said during a press conference outside City Hall to declare his Republican mayoral candidacy.
Mayor Bloomberg, one of the wealthiest men in America, famously collects only $1 a year for the job. But Catsimatidis was quick to draw distinctions between himself and Bloomberg, painting himself as a man of the people.
“It’s not that I’m only a business person. I’m from 135th Street. I’ve never forgotten where I came from,” he said. “I’m not a Mike Bloomberg billionaire; I’m not wearing a $5,000 suit.”
Catsimatidis, who was worth an estimated $1.7 billion in 2010, according to Forbes, made it a point to tell reporters he was wearing a $99 suit for the event.
Suits aside, he is — like Bloomberg — planning to fund the campaign out of his own deep pockets.
“I don’t give a damn about the money,” the billionaire Gristedes founder said, although he refused to disclose how much of his personal fortune he’s willing to spend on the race.
Standing alongside his wife, Margo, son, John Jr., daughter, Andrea, and Manhattan GOP leader Dan Isaacs, Catsimatidis made a bid for the Republican primary nod.
“I’m a visionary, I’m not a maintenance person,” he said — in a dig against his top Republican opponent, ex-MTA head Joe Lhota, who earned plaudits for restoring subway service after Hurricane Sandy.
Despite being a prominent Mitt Romney supporter, the former Democrat praised Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. for paving the way for President Obama.
Catsimatidis said he’s a moderate Republican and is pro-gay marriage. He’s hoping for an endorsement from former New York Gov. George Pataki.
He’s entering an ever growing Republican field. In addition to Lhota, the GOP primary includes Manhattan publisher Tom Allon and Doe Fund founder George McDonald.
Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, a Democrat turned Independent, is vying for the GOP line.
The son of Greek immigrants who came to the US when he was six months old, Catsimatidis began his business career with grocery stores and went on invest in oil, real estate and other enterprises.