Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Greek businessman John Catsimatidis.
Last updated on November 7, 2024.
John A. Catsimatidis is an American billionaire businessman and radio talk show host. He is the owner, president, chairman, and CEO of Gristedes Foods, a grocery chain in Manhattan, and the Red Apple Group, a real estate and aviation company with about $2 billion in holdings in New York, Florida and Pennsylvania. He is also the chairman and CEO of the Red Apple Group subsidiary United Refining Company.
The reason I grew so fast in the supermarket business, without help of the banks in those days, was through my vendors. I convinced my vendors, the companies I was doing business with, if I did more business, they would do more business.
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.
I promoted myself as a fusion ticket. I was running as a Republican liberal.
It seems everyone knows the value of a cantaloupe or a quart of milk.
I could be like Joe Kennedy and say, 'My kids are going to run for president!'
It is tough that a lot of kids have single-family homes.
All my life, I've been winning, ok?
What transpired at Semgroup was no less than a $500 billion fraud on the people of the world.
Nobody destroys people - people destroy themselves, and it's very, very sad.
I just want to reflect the respect I have for animals.
It will be almost impossible for any other candidate to raise the money that the Clintons can raise.
I'm a Bill Clinton social Republican.
Americans like buying American vs. buying from Chavez or buying from the Middle East.
The media doesn't always reflect reality.
My father died in '97. But at least he lived until 93, so he saw my success.
I was a Clinton Democrat for twenty years.
I started in the supermarket business in the early '70s. And by '75, '76, I realized you don't have a business unless you own the real estate.
I'm not a Johnny-come-lately Jew. I've been around. I watch out for the Jews; I watch out for the Catholics.
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.
Am I a Republican? Yes. Am I a Democrat? Yes. Am I a conservative? Yes. Am I a liberal? Yes.
I made a ton of money.
I believe that all people that are successful should pay back their cities, their states, their towns, our country.
I grew up on 135th Street. I grew up on the poor side of New York. I grew up in Harlem.
I respect John Kennedy for saying that he had a dream that we'd go to the moon before the end of the decade.
I was a Mitt Romney Republican because he was pro-business.
New York never felt the recession. New York never felt a depression.
We are teaching kids to fail. We need to teach our kids to succeed.
I think New York is destined to have a Democratic mayor, and I want Freddy Ferrer to be that mayor.
I think the rich should pay more in taxes - I agree with that 100 percent - but everybody should feel the pain a little bit.
We have to draw the line someplace with all the pesticides being used by the farmers.
What's worse than getting divorced?
I have a love factor with the minorities.
Everyone - whether it's the Jews, the Greeks, the Catholics - everybody is entitled to religious beliefs and entitled to their traditions.
I care about making New York better.
Material things don't matter.
Grocery stores can't afford to pay $80 a square foot. At that rate, we are going out of business.
The Fresh Direct model doesn't work.
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.
There are two New Yorks - Manhattan and everything else. I'm a Manhattanite. I feel sorry for those people who aren't.
New York is for everybody; it's for the poor, it's for the middle-class, it's for the wealthy. We can't punish any one group and chase them away.
I could have beat Obama.
I love people. I enjoy people.
People tell me, 'You better lose weight if you want to run for mayor.' I said, 'I got the Chris Christie look.'
I'm tough, but I have a heart.
I'm a visionary. I'm not a maintenance person.
As mayor, I would support law enforcement, not knock it down.
America always recovers.
I believe business has to do well and that the surrounding communities do well.
My life would be better without Gristedes.
I'm not a Mike Bloomberg billionaire.
Anytime you cut food stamps, it naturally affects sales. People spend less.
Bill Clinton told me that when he was 14, he shook John Kennedy's hand, and that inspired him to be president.
While in my late teens and in my 20s, I worked seven days a week, 20 hours a day. I worked my tail off.
I'm the same businessman Donald Trump is.
You have to work at everything. You've got to make it work.
I'm a New York businessman.
When the commodities go up and the cost of transportation is going up, and the value of the dollar is going down, it's all going to translate to an 8 to 10 percent rise in food prices.
I put $5 million into the real-estate business when the world was coming to an end, and three years later, by 1980, I woke up and was worth a hundred. That's a lot of money back then.
Pizza is no longer on my diet.
In your company or industry, work every job in that industry. It's the only way of having a complete understanding of your people and your company.