Trump-tied billionaire clan behind unregistered anti-Zohran IE

The Gristedes-owning Catsimatidis clan launched a new political committee this summer blasting Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral nominee, without registering it with the city’s Campaign Finance Board – a move that coincided with a signal-boost John Catsimatidis’ radio station gave GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa and a Hamptons fundraiser he held for the Guardian Angels founder in August.

A radio spot financed by Progress & Prosperity PAC called “Stop Socialism, Save Our City” went aloft on August 1, starring billionaire John Catsimatidis, an associate of President Donald Trump and a one-time Gracie Mansion contender. But the patriarch directed queries about the campaign to his son, John Catsimatidis Jr., who took credit for forming the political action committee.

"This is a personal project of mine,” the namesake told City & State. "I'm trying to build infrastructure to combat (Democratic Socialists of America) and socialism nationwide.”

Business records show the “Progress & Prosperity PAC” incorporated anonymously in Delaware on July 29, four days after the entity filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission under the stewardship of Georgia-based GOP operative Jason Boles and Virginia attorney John Pence. Both men served as advisers to Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, and John Pence is the nephew of former Vice President Mike Pence and the son of GOP Rep. Greg Pence of Indiana. Boles is an associate of GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and briefly worked as treasurer to former Long Island Rep. George Santos. Neither responded to repeated requests for comment.

Catsimatidis Jr. described the younger Pence as a “friend,” who had in turn recommended Boles.

"This is a New York City issue, but it's really a nationwide issue,” he said, maintaining his ambitions are primarily national.

In spite of this, a website for the PAC that went live on July 30 revealed its focus is New York City – “Stop Zohran Mamdani NYC Mayor 2025” shows up in the site name in Google. And in spite of the partisan apparatchiks running it, the page claims purely ecumenical intentions for its effort, dubbed the “New Yorkers United Coalition.”

“Join a diverse group of common-sense Democrats, Republicans, and Independents of all stripes,” the site urges. “We are a multi-partisan coalition of businesspeople, community groups, political mobilizers, activists, media and digital professionals, campaign professionals, religious communities, and New Yorkers of all stripes.”

The group further boasts of a “5-Part strategic plan to defeat the rise of the DSA in New York within the next 5 years, beginning with the 2025 Mayoral election,” but provides just two: “1) Defeat DSA-backed candidates in NYC and nationwide” and “2) Dismantle the rising electoral power of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in New York over the next 5 years.”

The site also doesn’t give a clue as to whose idea the PAC was, and Catsimatidis Jr. expressed surprise City & State had ascertained his family’s involvement.  However, his father had discussed the group openly and possessively in an Aug. 4 interview on his radio station, 77 WABC.

“We have a lot of people in the real estate industry are very, very much interested,” the mogul said in answer to questions from host Sid Rosenberg about his involvement with the group and its efforts to stop Mamdani. “We are going to get the message across to every New Yorker, whether they're in the Bronx, whether they're in Staten Island, whether they're in Brooklyn, they're going to get the message and they're going to realize that that's not the way to go.”

By that point, Progress & Prosperity PAC already had its first radio ad up featuring the businessman.

"I was in Cuba in the 1990s with Fidel Castro when he was building a Greek Orthodox Church for us in Havana. A great guy – a charming person,” the tycoon says at the top of the spot. “But his people were starving. Socialist and communist ideas just don't work.”

“Save New York from the destructive rise of anti-business policies,” the businessman adds, urging listeners to visit the PAC’s website, NewYorkersUnited.com.

Two days later, Catsimatidis tweeted an ad for the group recorded by Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella.

“Let’s face facts: there is no such thing as a free lunch. But New York City socialists want us to believe that free lunch is on the table – along with free bus rides, free trains, free child care, free groceries, and the list goes on,” the Republican elected official says. “Someone will have to pay for all these free things, and that someone is you. We must stop the socialist train that is heading toward City Hall."

Fossella did not respond to requests for comment. Catsimatidis Jr. would not answer how much the ad spots, which ran on 77 WABC, had cost. The spots each explicitly identify themselves as “a paid issue advertisement,” and if even if the billionaire lets them run for free, it would count toward the $1,000-value benchmark that would obligate a political committee involved in a municipal race or ballot matter to register with the Campaign Finance Board, a spokesperson for the election overseer told City & State.

But records show Progress & Prosperity PAC has not filed paperwork either in New York City or New York state. The Campaign Finance Board would not say whether the group was in violation of its rules, but highlighted a section in local election law compelling compliance from any group engaged in “express advocacy,” defined as “words that in context and with limited reference to external events, such as the proximity to the election, can have no reasonable meaning other than to advocate the election, passage, or defeat of one or more clearly identified ballot proposals or candidates.”

While none of the ads specifically call out the insurgent socialist Assembly member, a fundraising page for Progress & Prosperity PAC directly refers to “Socialist Zohran Mamdani (and his terrible ideas)” and includes the pledge “By submitting this form, I agree to the following: YES! You can count on my vote against Mamdani in November.”

But despite this, and the explicit references to New York in both radio spots and in the name of its “coalition,” Catsimatidis Jr. maintained they were not “New York-specific” and thus exempt from registering with the local authorities. Confronted with the explicit urban references, the heir alluded to the candidacy of socialist Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh, and said the PAC is focused on the country writ large.

"The infrastructure is being set up for a nationwide campaign,” he asserted. “The big effort's going to be done over the next two years.”

Catsimatidis Jr. declined to share how much money the committee has raised to date, whether his father had donated, and the names of the Democrats he said were also involved in Progress & Prosperity. He also alluded vaguely to a “partner” in the project whose name he would not provide.

The PAC’s formation coincided with a period in which the elder Catsimatidis  – who had previously supported Mayor Eric Adams’ reelection bid –  used his radio station to amplify Sliwa, who has intermittently hosted a radio show on 77 WABC since the 1990s. The conservative pundit suspended his program earlier this year to run for mayor, but he filled in for Rosenberg alongside Catsimatidis in late July, right when Progress & Prosperity PAC was forming. The two also co-hosted an hour-long program during Brian Kilmeade’s typical slot on Aug. 8.

On Aug. 9 Catsimatidis hosted a Hamptons fundraiser for Sliwa, part of what he called an “Anybody But Zohran” push.

Sliwa denied having any conversations with any party regarding the PAC’s formation, and Catsimatidis Jr. maintained the committee’s work was separate from his father’s. He noted the paterfamilias had hosted similar events for Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

"My dad has been friendly with all these people for a very long time and it has nothing to do with this,” he said.

In more recent weeks, Catsimatidis Sr. has spoken openly of his contact with Trump and his support of the president’s efforts to narrow the field, including by nudging Adams out of the race. But the mayor and Sliwa have so far resisted pressure to exit the contest.