FIGHT FOR FREE NEW YORK CITY 
NEWS AND ACTION

Martha MacCallum
Let's bring in John Catsimatidis, owner of D'Agostino and Gristedes grocery stores, New York City's oldest independent supermarket chains. He also has a new Wall Street Journal op ed titled "Want Soviet bread lines vote for Zohran. Mamdani". Cats, great to have you with us today. Thank you for joining me. I did think of you when I heard this discussion about government owned grocery stores. And of course, there's so many grocery stores in New York independent and all the bodegas and everything, describe to people what you think New York City would look like if we had government run grocery stores.

John Catsimatidis
Well, I was in Havana in the 1990s we went there on a tour with the congressional tour with Congressman Charlie Rangel. We met with Fidel Castro. And this sounds like Z man wants to be Fidel Castro all over again. The fact is, everything that he is promising people, Castro promised the Cuban people. And when we were there in 1990 Guess what? The shelves and supermarkets were empty. People were starving to death. I went, we, being the congressman, Rango, went to one of the medical schools, and we saw five kids from Brooklyn Tech High School, same high school I went to, and I said to them, what are you doing here? He says, "Well, we get a medical license for the whole world". I said, "What could we send you to help you?" Just send food. There was no food. The same thing happened in Venezuela. Venezuela went from the richest country in South America to what to the poorest country in South America. So I'm worried socialism doesn't work. Said it right, doesn't work. I mean, nobody's breaking the door down....

Martha MacCallum
Let me ask you about how you see this race. Because people like Bradley Tusk, who supported Cuomo. Big money guy, tough strategies. He's saying, let's get behind Mamdani, because Cuomo can't win. What? How do you see this race playing out? We talked to Eric Adams on the show yesterday.

John Catsimatidis
Well, you don't want New York to turn into Chicago. It's a combat zone. You know? How many black kids die in Chicago every weekend. I mean, enough is enough. He wants to defund the police, and that's we're not ready for that. You want every policeman in New York to resign. It's not going to work. I'm concerned. I've lived in our city for 75 years. I am worried about New York City. President Trump is worried about New York City. And, you know, accidents happen, the way they set up this election system, the way the Democratic Party is socialists are now controlling Democratic Party. So, so what happens? All the socialists go out, all the extreme extremists go out during the you know, the protocol the pre election, and what happens? They win. And in the Democratic Party is stuck with the socialists, and it's time for all common sense Democrats to stand up and say, enough is enough, and taking all of their party back.

Martha MacCallum
Yeah, that's the big question in New York and nationally, we'll see what happens. John Catsimatidis, thank you very much. Good to have you with us today.

John Catsimatidis
Thank you for having me.


Mr. Catsimatidis is owner and CEO of the Red Apple Group.

For more of John Catsimatidis, Listen to WABC TALK RADIO
Live Stream:
WABCradio.com
or APP

For Advertising Referral on WABCRadio, email Arthur@SFBDG.com


https://www.foxnews.com/video/6375111946112

He says he wants government grocery stores. That idea has been tried many times.

By John Catsimatidis
June 30, 2025 12:42 pm ET


WSJ Opinion:

As owner of Gristedes and D’Agostino’s—this city’s oldest and largest independent supermarket chains—I’ve spent my life keeping shelves stocked, workers employed and families fed. That’s what capitalism does. It works. It builds. It feeds. And it empowers.

Now comes Zohran Mamdani with a delusional notion in the name of radical socialism that would destroy everything we’ve built. His “public grocery” proposal—a government-run alternative to private supermarkets—would collapse our food supply, kill private industry, and drag us down a path toward the bread lines of the old Soviet Union.

Everything Mr. Mamdani is suggesting was already done by Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Fidel Castro in Cuba. Both nationalized their food-distribution systems in the name of “equity” and “access.” What followed was poverty, rationing and hunger. Grocery-store shelves were stripped bare. Citizens stood in lines for hours to get a loaf of bread or a bag of rice—if there was any food left at all.

Mr. Mamdani wants to replace supermarkets with state-run food stores. That’s not progressive, it’s oppressive. He wants bureaucrats to decide what you eat, when you eat, and where you get it. He wants to rip away the livelihoods of hardworking grocers—many of them immigrants, like my parents.

Supermarkets operate on thin margins, complex logistics and decades of supply-chain expertise. We coordinate daily with hundreds of vendors, farmers, manufacturers and local producers to bring fresh, affordable food to millions. Mr. Mamdani would disrupt that infrastructure, destroying small businesses and jobs. And who’s going to manage these public grocery stores? The same government that can’t fix the subways or public housing?

Capitalism may not be perfect, but it’s the only system that feeds the world. Under Mr. Mamdani’s vision, the corner bodega, the family-owned deli and the community supermarket would all disappear—replaced by government outposts that decide what’s available and when. That isn’t a vision of equity. It’s a blueprint for collapse.

We should support grocers in underserved neighborhoods, not destroy the entire system. We need tax incentives for food access, not forced takeovers of private enterprise.

I came to this country as a 6-month-old Greek immigrant and built a business that feeds a city. That’s the American Dream. Mr. Mamdani’s dream would turn into the nightmare of a ration line.

Mr. Catsimatidis is owner and CEO of the Red Apple Group.

For more of John Catsimatidis, Listen to WABC TALK RADIO
Live Stream:
WABCradio.com
or APP

For Advertising Referral on WABCRadio, email Arthur@SFBDG.com