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Billionaire supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis has cautioned that mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani could transform New York City into a version of Cuba, a country governed by communists since 1959.
Affluent New Yorkers, Catsimatidis included, are predicting dire consequences for America’s largest city if the self-identified socialist triumphs in the upcoming November general election.
Catsimatidis, owner of D’agostino and Gristedes, slammed Mamdani’s agenda as free handouts in an exclusive interview with Fox Digital on Wednesday.
‘We’re going to provide free buses, free subways, and free food. This approach mirrors what Fidel Castro implemented,’ Catsimatidis remarked.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old New York State assemblyman, won the Democratic primary in June on promises of free bus service, free childcare, free tuition for the City University of New York and freezing the rents for more than 2 million residents.
‘The people in Venezuela are starving,’ Catsimatidis said. ‘The people in Cuba are starving. And I think the American people, especially New Yorkers, they’re smart and they’re going to realize this right away.’
In the next breath, the real estate mogul seemed to acknowledge Mamdani’s charisma, while also tearing into his relatively thin résumé.
‘He has a beautiful smile. He has a good smile. He seems like a nice guy, but it’s a con game,’ he said. ‘He’s not qualified to be mayor. The city is a $100 billion enterprise, and you have to be really smart. You have to be able to know your checks and balance, you have to be able to run 300,000 employees.’
Billionaire supermarket owner John Catsimatidis has slammed Zohran Mamdani’s policies as unrealistic and similar to the agenda championed by Fidel Castro of Cuba
However, Catsimatidis acknowledged Mamdani’s charisma and ‘beautiful smile’
Still, Mamdani handily defeated former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who was thought of as the more experienced option in the race.
His main opponents in the general will be Cuomo and current mayor Eric Adams, both of whom are running as independents. Former US Attorney Jim Walden and Curtis Sliwa, the perennial Republican option, are also in the race.
Catsimatidis sought to handwave away various polls that have Mamdani cruising to victory in November.
‘I don’t think the polls are really real right now,’ Catsimatidis said. ‘He doesn’t like the Italian people. The Italians are going to be against him. He doesn’t like business people. The business people are going to be against him. So I don’t think he’s that far ahead.’
The most recent poll has Mamdani at 50 percent support among likely voters, while Cuomo is in a distant second at 22 percent.
Catsimatidis, who ran for mayor himself in 2013, also believes the city won’t be able to fund the Mamdani’s policies by increasing corporate taxes and income taxes on rich New Yorkers.
‘Sooner or later, you’re going to run out of money,’ he said. ‘These union leaders are picking this guy, Mamdani, for what? They were promised a great day. They were promised great numbers. But if the city runs out of money, who’s going to pay the pensions?’
Catsimatidis’s thorough condemnation of Mamdani comes as The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump is weighing getting involved in the mayoral race.
President Donald Trump is weighing getting involved in the mayoral race, according to the New York Times
Part of that has meant speaking on the phone with former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, according to The Times. Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in the Democratic Primary, is polling in second place behind him in the general election
Trump reportedly spoke on the phone with Cuomo directly about the state of the race, according to three sources who were briefed on the call.
It’s still unclear what exactly Trump and Cuomo said to one another or who of the two initiated the unlikely conversation.
In early July, Trump publicly said he would arrest Mamdani if he dared to defy raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York City.
He also accused Mamdani of possibly being in the United States illegally, even though he was born in Uganda and became a naturalized US citizen in 2018.
‘I think he’s terrible. He’s a communist,’ Trump has said. ‘The last thing we need is a communist. I said there will never be socialism in the United States. So we have a communist?’
Trump has also been asked about Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the use of the term ‘globalize the intifada,’ a pro-Palestinian slogan that has encouraged violence against Israelis and Jews.
Since becoming the Democratic nominee, Mamdani has now said he would discourage the use of the term.
‘I think he’s, frankly, I’ve heard he’s a total nut job. I think the people in New York are crazy. If they go this route, I think they’re crazy,’ Trump has said.
