Republican John Catsimatidis says he’s not the billionaire you’re used to.
The colorful supermarket, oil and real estate magnate hit the City Hall steps today to kick off a Republican bid to succeed Mayor Bloomberg, framing himself as a New York success story who hasn’t forgotten his 135th Street roots.
He joked about wearing a low-budget suit — and not buying his daughter an “$80 million apartment” — and asked about rival
, the ex-MTA boss, the always blunt Catsimatidis replied: “I’m a visionary. I’m not a maintenance person.”
That’s just a taste of the talk Catsimatidis, an immigrant who rose from an impoverished childhood to the Forbes 400 list, could bring to an already packed race.
Catsimatidis has played with running for mayor before. He got out of the way when Bloomberg sought a third term in 2009.
But this time he says he’s going full-tilt with a campaign that welds his business savvy with an understanding of the everyday New Yorker’s struggles — and it’s all about improving the city that attracted his father from Greece with visions of streets “lined with gold.”
“I wouldn’t be having this press conference if I wasn’t in to win,” he said, though he says he’d limit himself to one term if elected. “All my life, I’ve been winning, ok? [I] made it from that Greek island to 135th Street to the top of the business community. It’s my turn to give back to the city of New York, and that’s all I care about.”
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Catismatidis — who made the announcement accompanied by his blonde wife, Margo, who wore black (and a medical boot she needs due to a dancing-related injury) — said he’s focused on job creation and public safety in the post-Sept. 11 era.
Also on hand: Daughter Andrea, who smiled and shivered coatlessly in a red turtleneck, a skirt sans stockings and sky-high red snakeskin heels; her younger brother, John Jr.; and her husband, Christopher Cox, a former Congressional candidate, son of state GOP Chairman Ed Cox and grandson of late ex-President Richard Nixon.
“I am what I am, but I want a better future for them and their children,” Catsimatidis said, pointing at the kids.
“I don’t give a damn about the money. You know that. I care about making New York better,” said Catsimatidis, who, as a grocer, has promised to work for 99 cents a year — a discount on Bloomberg’s ceremonial dollar salary.
That’s not the only difference he drew between himself and the current mayor, although both are philanthropists, pilots — and former Democrats who switched parties in anticipation of a campaign.
“I’m not a Mike Bloomberg billionaire,” he insisted, though he gives the mayor props for building international confidence and investment in New York.
“I’m not wearing a $5,000 suit… I think my wife paid a hundred dollars for this…”
Still, Catsimatidis and Bloomberg — who had a silver-spoonless upbringing himself — also share a willingness to dig into their flush bank accounts to advance their political goals.
Catsimatidis has pledged to spend as much as $20 million of his estimated $3 billion fortune to run, but said that could change.
“Whenever you decide to spend on a campaign, you grow in increments,” he said.
“You spend $5 [million], and then you get pregnant, and you spend another five, and you get more pregnant — [but] if it’s going our direction, we’ll spend whatever we have to spend. [It’s] an investment in New York — my investment in New York.”
Catsimatidis and Bloomberg certainly don’t agree on everything.
The mayor backed President Obama for re-election.Catsimatidis fervently fundraised for Republican Mitt Romney, although at today’s event, he named Martin Luther King, Jr. as an icon he deeply respects, enthusing that “thank G-d,” King’s dream of the possibility of a black president came to pass.
While some seriously expect the billionaire hopeful’s campaign to end with a whimper — again — Catismatidis pushed back at that notion and hinted at a coming endorsement from former Gov. George Pataki.
Also on scene for the Catsimatidis kickoff: Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, former state Sen. Serphin Maltese and city GOP chairmen Phil Ragusa of Queens and Dan Isaacs of Manhattan.
One more character milling around after the presser, and who ended up strolling away with Isaacs: Jake Menges, a longtime aide to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani who’s now helping craft Lhota’s campaign.
IMAGES: CELESTE KATZ/NY DAILY NEWS
