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A Welcome to Cats Roundtable to Spreaker and Revisiting My Interview with John Catsimatidis From 2021 · OneLegUpAlex Media

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Here's your host, Alex Garrett.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Well, I want to welcome another addition to our Spreaker crew. Obviously,
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: we have the Caramel Conservative, Ed Delgado. We have PAGS Protective,
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Ryan Pagano. We have a few more out there. But
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: joining the ranks of Spreaker is John Katsimatidis and the
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Cats Roundtable. Just found out this week they're joining the
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Spreaker family. I've hit the follow button. You should too.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: And you can hear them on my workstation, AM 970 Answer,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: every Sunday morning, 8 to 10. But I wanted to
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: say I didn't realize I only put my interview with
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: John about the Staten Island Ferry Hawks on my sports channel.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: So here it is in its entirety as a welcome
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: to John to Spreaker. My interview with John Katsimatidis from
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: five years ago this week on what bringing baseball back
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: to Staten Island means for his family, for him, I'm
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: for the borough of Staten Island. Well, calling into the
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Sports Hour with Alex Garrett is someone that I've gotten
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: to know over the last few years already.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Met him in 2009.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Working with him closely in radio. And I'm the owner
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: of WABC, John Katsimatidis, on my podcast. John, thank you
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: for joining me today.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you for having me, and it's an exciting
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: time for sports in New York City. I mean, we're
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: trying to bring New York City back and open it up,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: and we're starting with Staten Island.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Well, let's talk about that, because you were on the
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: field of the ballpark at St. George.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Why were you on the field yesterday? What can Staten
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Islanders look forward to?
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: We had Mayor de Blasio there yesterday. We had Borough
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: President Otto there yesterday. We had the head of economic
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: development for New York City there yesterday. And we're trying
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: to bring back the stadium that was closed down a
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: few years ago in Staten Island for the Staten Island
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Yankees that went defunct because of the fact of not
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: being properly managed. And we have a new deal. We're
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: partners with the Yankees, a very powerful team, the most
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: powerful sports team in the world. We want to bring
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: baseball back to Staten Island. And we have some additional
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: partners that are celebrities from Saturday Night Live. And we
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: got a partner from New Jersey because it's right next
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: to Staten Island, Eric Schiffler, who has all the contacts
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: in the world in New Jersey. And we're going to
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: take that stadium that was turned over to us by
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Mayor de Blasio yesterday and turn it into an entertainment
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: center for Staten Island. Baseball is our theme. We all
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: love baseball. It's the American sport. But we're also, you know,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: it's only 70 days a year for sports, for baseball.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: So we want to bring in soccer. We want to
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: bring in amusement parks. We want to bring in music concerts.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: We're going to maybe build a theater, you know, 7,100 seats.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Radio City Music Hall is only 6,000 seats. It'll be
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: the biggest movie theater in the world and outdoors so
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: everybody can get some fresh air.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: What do you think, Alex? Oh, man, I love that idea.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: And by the way, you talk about more than just
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: 70 days a year. Remember, a lot of high school
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: kids are out there, too, playing different sports, so I'm
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: sure they'd want to play. on that field as well?
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Well, we want the little league from the high schools.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: We want the college sports to use the stadium. And
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: it's all about being a combination of community facility and a,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: you know the three-letter word? Fun. F-U-N. Fun for the
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: people of Staten Island. Someplace to be a center to
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: enjoy life.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Well, obviously you've been in the stadium watching an actual
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: Staten Island Yankee game, right? So that's why you were
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: interested in this. You've been there before, right?
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: I was in Staten Island when I ran for mayor
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: in 2013, and I watched baseball games there. And it's
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: a beautiful stadium. You sit back, you relax, and you
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: can see the skyline in New York. You can see
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the Statue of Liberty. It's open air. It's really a
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: beautiful facility that was built– through the Giuliani administration 20
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: years ago.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, because it's been around there. Now, I understand
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: there's also a naming contest. I remember when they were
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: trying to save the team, they did this whole naming thing,
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: but what's your naming contest like? How's that going?
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Well, we have 1,200 entries so far through the WABC
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: radio website, and we also have from the Staten Island
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Advance website. And whoever wins the naming rights or gets
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: to throw out the first pitch gets to throw out
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the first pitch at the first game.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, John, they know you for Mercedes. They
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: know you for W.A.B.C. But they don't know how much
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: you've actually built out in these different parts of the boroughs. Now,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Staten Island, you're in Brooklyn, you're in Queens. Like, what's
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: it like, you know, having built out all these different
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: projects in the different boroughs?
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: I try to create something new every day, Alex. I
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: believe we have a real estate division that builds beautiful buildings.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: We build twin towers on the beach in Coney Island.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: We can build three more bigger towers. And we're awaiting
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: the pulse of that New York City is going the
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: right direction. And we're trying to help. to make sure
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: New York City is going in the right direction. And
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: I think the biggest problem there, we have licked COVID.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: If everybody's vaccinated, I think we're there. The next problem
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: is to make sure crime is taken off the streets.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: If people have committed violent crimes They should be in prison.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: We should not let them out. We should let the
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: judges decide and put the violent crime prisoners in prison.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: I don't care if they had one ounce of marijuana.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Let them out. It doesn't matter. But violent crimes should
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: be taken off the streets, not given no bail. And
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: I'll give you an example. I mean, it's almost a joke.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: People come from out of town to commit crimes in
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: New York City. because they get to go home for dinner.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, that is enough is enough. The other problem
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: in New York City is we have taken all our
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: mentally ill folks, and there's a lot of them. During
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: past administrations, there was as many as 30,000 people in
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: hospitals in New York City for mentally ill being treated,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: because these people deserve to get treated. Well, you know
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: how many there are now? There's 3,000 in the hospitals, 27,000
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: enlisted as homeless. They were put on the streets of
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: New York, and they're not getting treatments for themselves, and
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: they're menacing the citizens of the city of New York.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: These people need help. Some of them are veterans. Some
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: of them just went broke. these people need help and they,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: they should be put in hospitals and taken care of.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: And just, instead of just leaving them on the streets
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: of New York.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: John, I was going to say, you talk about this
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: daily on your show on WABC. So to do some
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: sports talk too, doesn't that help you feel better? Like,
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: doesn't that give you some hope? Cause I know you
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: also love to talk news, but doing sports has to
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: help as well. Mentally anyway.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Sometimes, sometimes you have to take, Time off from Monday
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: through Friday, intense news about all the bad things happening
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: in the world. Nobody reports good news. Ernie Anastas, a
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: good friend of mine, tried to do a good news
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: program on Channel 5 years ago. Good news doesn't sell.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: People tune in for bad news, which is sad. But
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: on weekends, what we did on WABC, we said enough
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: is enough. We have music radio on weekends, Saturday night,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: Sunday night. We've got Joe Biscopo. We have Tony Orlando.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: We believe on Saturday night and Sunday night. Yes, all
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: of them. And I simply believe Saturday night and Sunday night,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: sit back, sip a glass of wine, and listen to
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: good music, and forget about listening to bad news.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Okay. Well, yeah, and I think for Staten Island, you know,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: they were hard hit at 9-11. So for this news
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: to come out that baseball could return hopefully lifts their
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: spirits just before the 20th commemoration. That's what we.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Want to do. We want to give Staten Island some
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: good news. We want to have sports. We want to
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: have movies. We want to have concerts. Make it an entertainment.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: That's why the company is called Staten Island Entertainment. It's
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: not called Staten Island Baseball. We love baseball, and baseball
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: is going to be 25% of it. But entertainment, movies, concerts,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: amusement parks, all of the above.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: John, I've got to ask you this now that we're
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: on the baseball trend here. Yankees on a 12-game win streak,
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: first time since 1961. I want your memories of that
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: race between Marist and Mantle. How well do you remember
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: that whole run there?
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: I remember it like yesterday. I can repeat the team.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Moose Garrett on first base. Bobby Richardson on second base.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Tony Kubek on shortstop. Cleve Boyer on third base. Yogi Berra,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: Elton Howard catching. Whitey Ford pitching. In the outfield. Mickey
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Mantle center field. Lopez, Hank Lopez. And who was it? Bauer.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Hank Bauer, was it? Yep.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: Hank Bauer.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Yep. And Norm Siebert. I remember that team like yesterday.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: I loved that team. It was the greatest team in
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Yankee history.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: Baseball has changed in general, though, and I'm sure you've
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: seen that, too, over the years.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: It's changed. I think our kids still love it. And
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: it's part of America. And my other concern about our
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: country is there are people trying to change our country.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: They're trying to change the way we grew up. And,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: you know, a lot of them, they call themselves socialists.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: A lot of them call themselves progressives. I don't call
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: them progressives. I call them regressives. When I ran for mayor,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: I ran as a Republican liberal. You know what the
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: liberal party stands for? Taking care of Americans that are
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: having a hard time. Taking care of the kids of
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: our inner city. Taking care of America first. In progressives,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: the regressives, we can't take care of the whole world.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: We can't turn our country into a socialist country and Listen,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: people are trying to break into the United States of America.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: You see anybody trying to break into Russia? You see
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: anybody trying to break into Cuba? Nobody. The people, you
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: know who are the biggest patriots in America? People who
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: have left communist countries like Russia and Cuba. I mean,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: these socialists, if they don't like it, I will personally
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: buy them one-way tickets to Venezuela and see what it's like.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. All right. Well, while we're on the news vein
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: here for a second, it's Cats Roundtable. It's a huge
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: weekend after what's been going on in Afghanistan. So give
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: your listener, give my listeners what they can listen to
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: on Sunday news-wise on the Cats Round, because I'm curious
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: what you guys got going on this weekend.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: What we're trying to do on the Cats Roundtable is
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: bring people along that can tell us the truth. Because,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: you know, when we growing up, Walker Cronkite, 92% of
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: the people believed Walker Cronkite when he was on. Right now,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: on the news, nobody believes anybody. So we have people
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: that can tell us what is the pulse of what's
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: going on in Afghanistan right now. I cannot believe what
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: happened that we took our military out and we left
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: tens of thousands of Americans stranded, hoping that the Taliban
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: is going to take care of them. That is an oxymoron.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: You have to be dumber than dumb to think that
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: the Taliban, these fourth century people, are going to take
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: care of the American people.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I don't know how they got normalcy.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Do you?
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: It's just very strange to me.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Well, they have no money, they're broke, and they're doing
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: what they're doing in the 4th century AD. Of course,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: 4th century BC wasn't bad. It's a big problem, and
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: the next thing they're saying is, oh, the Americans can leave,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: but we won't let the civilized Afghans leave.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Well, it's just, it's, it's horrible, but John, we'll be
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: looking forward to that on catch round on nine 70,
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: seven 70 and, and all, you know, personally behind the scenes,
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: it's always been great working with you. So thanks for
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: joining my podcast today.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Alex, and I look forward to working with
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: you many years in the future.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Amen to that. All right, this is Alex Garrett. It's
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: the Sports Hour edition, and we will talk to you soon.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Baseball back in Staten Island, 12.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: In a row for the Yanks.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: What else good news can come in such a really
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: bad news kind of week? Have a great day, everybody.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: John, that was perfect.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Thank you.