New York City billionaire and supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis didn't hold back his frustration after Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race on Tuesday.
Catsimatidis, founder of Red Apple Group, said, "I don't give a sh*t about grocery stores," while referring to Mamdani's campaign to open city-run grocery stores that aims at offering cheaper food in every borough, according to The NY Post.
Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, has campaigned on making groceries more affordable and tackling "food deserts" in the city. The plan would start with five city-owned stores, one in each borough, selling food at lower prices by cutting overhead costs like rent and taxes.
Business owners, including Catsimatidis, see the plan as a threat, believing that grocery stores already operate on thin profit margins and that government-run stores could undercut private businesses.
Catsimatidis, who runs grocery stores like Gristedes and D'Agostino's is also worried that under Mamdani's policies, quality of life in New York City might get worse for residents and people might leave the city because of high costs and taxes.
"New York can't afford to lose more people," he said.
Catsimatidis also said that he was most concerned about the threat of Mamdani cutting the police force and about whom the mayor-elect appoints to judgeships.
Mamdani has become the first Muslim and the youngest person in over 100 years to lead America's largest city. Following his historic victory, Mamdani described it as a groundbreaking win, "Thank you, New York City. Together, we made history. Now it's time to get to work."
The New York mayor-elect has proposed a sweeping 'Tax the Rich' policy that centres on imposing an additional 2 per cent income tax surcharge on city residents earning over $1 million annually, along with raising the state corporate income tax rate to about 11.5 per cent to match neighbouring New Jersey. His plan, jointly framed as a push for economic fairness, aims to generate around $9-10 billion a year to fund expanded public services such as free transit, universal childcare, and affordable housing.
Son of acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani, Mamdani won by defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an Independent and Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani secured more than 50 per cent of the vote, while Cuomo finished with just over 40 per cent, and Sliwa trailed at 7 per cent.
