Catsimatidis officially launches mayoral bid

Supermarket mogul and real estate developer John Catsimatidis has started his Republican mayoral campaign with a $1 million investment of his own money, the New York Post reported. He plans to hire a campaign staff next week.

“I cut a million dollar check,” said Catsimatidis, the president, chairman and CEO of both the Red Apple Group and the Gristedes supermarket chain.

Catsimatidis, in an interview with The Real Deal in August 2011, said that he had been urging Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to enter the race to replace Michael Bloomberg. “If he doesn’t run,” Catsimatidis said, “I may.”

He joins a list of mayoral candidates with ties to real estate, including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Tom Allon.

Catsimatidis had planned to run for mayor in 2009, but he said he withdrew after Bloomberg asked him to use his “influence” to help in a bid for reelection. [NYP] —Zachary Kussin