By William Lewis
On March 16, a new radio show began featuring John Catsimatidis as the moderator. Catsimatidis ran for mayor last year in the Republican primary. The program is on station WNYM 970 AM at 9 a.m. and runs for one hour.
The program began with Catsimatidis interviewing Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and then interviewing former Republican Gov. George Pataki. Both of them spent a good deal of their time discussing charter schools and the positive effect these schools have on our present student population.
It is interesting that the present and former governors agreed on furthering the concept of charter schools. They also indicated their desire to control taxes.
The following Sunday, March 23, Catsimatidis had as his guests the chief executive of Westchester County, Republican Rob Astorino, and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. As the governor a week earlier, they also supported charter schools. Astorino referred to cutting the budget in Westchester County.
Giuliani was pleased that Bill Bratton had been appointed police commissioner. Bratton had been one of Giuliani’s police commissioners. The former mayor also spoke in favor of maintaining the horse and carriages in Central Park, as a majority of New York City residents do.
Catsimatidis has plans for his show’s future. He intends to have leading public officials as guests to discuss today’s issues. He will also have candidates for office appear and inform voters of their views.
During his campaign for mayor, Catsimatidis enjoyed meeting people and listening to their views on various issues. He is now continuing those practices. He will be having people call in and ask questions of the guests. There will be guests from both major parties.
Catsimatidis believes the recent experience in running for citywide office has helped prepare him for running a radio show. As for the future, he hopes to gradually increase his audience. There will be a lot more interest in politics, especially in New York, as we approach the 2016 presidential campaign.
Catsimatidis came to our country as an immigrant when he was a young child. He achieved the American Dream of financial success, but has always identified himself with the working middle class, and he campaigned last year with that in mind.
In his radio program he speaks about common sense being used in determining how to resolve critical policy issues. He has indicated that ideals for improving society are fine, but these ideals should be tempered with practical consideration through the use of common sense.
Catsimatidis has a great appreciation of New York City. He wants to improve the quality of life in our five boroughs. His new radio program can help him do that.
In the Queens Republican Party, the battle for control at the county level has ended for the time being with a state Supreme Court ruling in favor of Chairman Phil Ragusa and the incumbent county organization.
In recent times they have been going through this inter-party warfare every two years. As before, it is hoped that the Queens Republican Party will now be able to unite and work together. It would be a shame if the insurgents initiated another battle against the county organization next year.
Such inter-party conflicts will only lead to manpower and financial resources being used for party primaries when these things should be used for the fall general election in November.
The Queens Democratic Party has not had any serious inter-party fights in years. Efforts will be made to unite the Queens Republican Party. Hopefully, these efforts can be successful.
