John "Catman" Catsimatidis Speaks to the Brooklyn Young Republican Club then heads to Bay Ridge event

Mayoral hopeful John Catsimatidis weathers stormy questioning  from Brooklyn Young Republicans Downtown  —  Finishes on an upbeat note of camaraderie and civic pride at Bay Ridge Memorial Day Parade fund raiser

In a meeting at the Ceol Pub on Smith Street,  for the first time the President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, Glenn Nocera, and a representative of the rival Brooklyn Young Republicans, Frank Morale, were both in the house for the appearance of Republican mayoral candidate —  John Catsimatidis. Being a gracious host for the event, Glenn Nocera introduced his counterpart  representative, whose Brooklyn YRs is the officially recognized Young Republican organization by Brooklyn GOP Chairman Craig Eaton and the Kings County Republican Party; and the gathered members of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club gave the recently elected Vice President of the competing Brooklyn YRs a hearty welcome.

A similar warm welcome was given to the Brooklyn Young Republican Club’s marquee guest, John Catsimatidis, after he was introduced by Bay Ridge and Staten Island Assemblyperson Nicole Malliotakis. Things continued to go smoothly for the Republican billionaire candidate throughout his short but pithy presentation; after which, as  he and his advance team had promised, he opened the floor for questions with a tag line something like  —  make them tough, I’ll answer anything you want...

Based upon the commentary by President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club Glenn Nocera and the Catsimatidis advance-people before the candidate arrived, as well as John Catsimatidis’ own opening remarks, the billionaire candidate for the Republican nomination expected some degree of confrontation from the crowd of Brooklyn Young Republicans and their guests. More than that, the candidate, who referred to himself in front of the group as the “Catman,” indicated that he would be ready for whatever came his way and solicited tough questions.

The more intense questioning started with an obviously libertarian leaning questioner, who wanted to know why the government needed to have its hand in his pocket to bail out victims of last year’s non-hurricane “Sandy.” John Catsimatidis fielded that along with three of four follow ups on the same theme, with patient and well reasoned explanations that large scale disaster relief is part of what government does to take care of all of its citizens  —  especially in light of the aid that we send all around the world.

That was followed by a problematic political joust with a person that a well-known political reporter described as a “Bay Ridge Republican gadfly.”  That questioner opened with a reference to the apparent split between Brooklyn Republicans, and asked whether Catsimatidis would give assurances that neither he nor his mayoral campaign would get directly involved in this year’s Republican organizational primaries. The candidate obviously expected that his quick answer that State Senator Martin Golden had made a commitment that he would be announcing his support for Catsimatidis’ candidacy after the primary on September 11th would end the discussion. However, a testy exchange erupted instead. That happened when the long-time gadfly pressed the candidate about the Brooklyn GOP leadership races, including battles over  State and County Committee slates. After saying he knew nothing about it and then quibbling about being a politician, Mr. Catsimatidis pivoted and upped the ante with comments indicating that he always reciprocated loyalty for loyalty, across the board and non-stop. "...full-stop... full stop" (??? Mannheim Steamroller style ???)

Finally, the president of the Brooklyn Tea Party, Frankie Russo, engaged the candidate in what evolved into a debate as to whether Catsimatidis actually had a specific program of governing to back up his campaign of “new ideas.”

>>>>>   [ Apparently not seen, and previously not reported upon anywhere other than here]  After the Downtown Brooklyn speech by John Catsimatidis, and the completion of the caloric question and answer period that followed; there was a short tete a tete between the old Republican gadfly at the Young Republican meeting and two members of  John Catsimatidis’ advance team, which led to an exchange of handshakes between the candidate and the gadfly  –  followed by bear hugs back and forth. <<<<<

Mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis closed his Brooklyn afternoon by going to an event at the Salty Dog Restaurant & Bar on 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge in support of  the Kings County Memorial Day Parade. The parade, which is in its 146th year, has been held in Bay Ridge for the past 20 years and is the oldest continuously run Memorial Day Parade in the U.S.  Local leaders, musicians, and the Kings County Memorial Day Parade Committee have joined together for an annual fund-raiser to ensure the parade has the resources to continue. Candidate Catsimatidis joined in this effort on Sunday and commended the work of all those in attendance. The Kings County Memorial Day Parade will be held  in Bay Ridge on Monday, May 27th.