A biography for John Catsimatidishasn’t been written yet.
“Anytime you cut food stamps, it naturally affects sales. People spend less.”
“Everyone - whether it's the Jews, the Greeks, the Catholics - everybody is entitled to religious beliefs and entitled to their traditions.”
“What's worse than getting divorced?”
“We are teaching kids to fail. We need to teach our kids to succeed.”
“I'm not a Johnny-come-lately Jew. I've been around. I watch out for the Jews; I watch out for the Catholics.”
“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 love people. I enjoy people.”
“Grocery stores can't afford to pay $80 a square foot. At that rate, we are going out of business.”
“I'm tough, but I have a heart.”
“We have to draw the line someplace with all the pesticides being used by the farmers.”
“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 Mike Bloomberg billionaire.”
“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 care about making New York better.”
“I have a love factor with the minorities.”
“You have to work at everything. You've got to make it work.”
“There are two New Yorks - Manhattan and everything else. I'm a Manhattanite. I feel sorry for those people who aren't.”
“My life would be better without Gristedes.”
“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.”
“As mayor, I would support law enforcement, not knock it down.”