JOHN CATSIMATIDIS IS ONLY REPUBLICAN CHOICE

John And Margo Catsimatidis

I am not going to get into a whole political exchange here. John Catsimatidis should be the Republican pick.

John Catsimatidis is a real New Yorker. Having known the Catsimatidis family for many years, the generosity this family has shown to New Yorkers is beyond reproach. I can only tell you what I have seen. There has been many charity events that I have attended, and I would always ask the publicist or host why this huge table is empty? Who brought a table and did not even show. So many times the answer was The Catsimatidis family. I was always told that they knew they could not show, but they brought the table anyway to support the good cause and donated it back to the charity.

I knew way before everyone else that John Catsimatidis would run this election. I had discussions with him at mutual friends private dinners and I was really impressed at his love for the city. John Catsimatidis and his wife Margo always got a glow in their eyes when they told stories of growing up in New York City and they talked about their love for the people and the town they call home. I loved the excitement in John Catsimatidis voice when he talked about growing up with the Yankees and imitated the old time Yankees announcers. The Catsimatidis family are real New Yorkers.

I remember after John Catsimatidis announced he was running for Mayor. Mutual friends would tell me he was in some part of the city making a donation and I would ask why the press was not called to cover this as he is running for Mayor after all. I was told this was not what John Catsimatidis wanted, it was about helping the people, not scoring election points. He wanted these donations kept private.

I know many of the people running in this election. Joe Lhota I do not know well. But his track record is not good in my book. He left the MTA and now everything is falling apart. His ads keep saying that he put the MTA on track. I do not see this. What I see is when he left the MTA to run for Mayor, the new head of the worlds biggest transit system is trying to repair everything. Yes, some of it is Hurricane Sandy damage, but it seems the majority of all these repairs should have been done years ago, when Joe Lhota was in charge. In all my years I have never seen more delays and more subway closures. This happened on Joe Lhota's watch.

On last nights debates, when John Catsimatidis suggested Lhota was part of a decision to build the city's emergency management center "on a high floor" in 7 World Trade Center, Lhota pointed out that it was on the third floor, which he didn't consider "high."

Now let me point out one thing. What person in their right mind would build the City's emergency management center in a building that was already bombed. The World Trade Center was bombed in 1993.  Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani along with Joe Lhota were in charge, yet the decision was made to put the emergency management center in buildings they already knew were targets. Is this smart management? It also seems that Rudy Giuliani has taken time out from his Lifelock infomercials to endorse Joe Lhota.

It seems to me the only Republican choice is John Catsimatidis.