Edited by: TJVNews.com
Who says politics doesn’t make strange bedfellows? As was recently reported in the New York Post, only days after winning the NYC Democratic primary, Brooklyn Borough President and former NYPD Captain Eric Adams was spotted dining with a bevy of influential NYC Republicans.
Chowing down at the renowned Italian restaurant Rao’s in East Harlem, Adams was joined by GOP billionaire and supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis, his daughter Andrea, who is the chair of the Manhattan Republicans, former cop and media personality Richard “Bo” Dietl and a public relations official for Catsimatidis. Dietl once launched his own mayoral bid some years ago that resulted in campaign finance violations, according to the Post report.
On Friday, Dietl spoke to the Post and told them that the Thursday night dinner in which Adams was present was a last minute invite and was not pre-planned. He said that Adams was invited because some his hedge fund cronies who were expected to attend had to withdraw.
Dietl told the Post, “I invited Eric and he showed up. We are social friends. This was not a planned event.”
The four politicos were photographed at the restaurant as dined together. The Post reported that the photo was sent to a New York Magazine reporter late Thursday and the photo went viral.
Catsimatidis, who not only owns the Gristedes supermarket chain in Manhattan but also is a media mogul of sorts as he is the owner of the conservative talk radio station WABC-770AM. It is at the radio station that Catsimatidis broadcasts his own radio program and it is the same radio station that Catsimatidis’ colleague Curtis Sliwa had a radio program for many years.
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa won the NYC Republican primary for mayor on June 22nd, when he handily defeated Fernando Mateo. Sliwa, who is running as a law and order candidate and one who wants to tackle the soaring crime problem in the Big Apple.
Another person at the table at Rao’s told the Post that, “We went to Rao’s for an enjoyable dinner and we were surprised to see Eric Adams.” A campaign spokesman said that Adams knew Catsimatidis would be there.
As for Catsimatidis’ opinion of Adams, he told the Post on Friday that the he has known the Democratic nominee for mayor for a long time.“Eric Adams is talking like he wants to do a good job,” Catsimatidis said.
Catsimatidis added: “I am an open-minded person. I am supporting common sense. I am a common-common sense Democrat — I am pro-common sense Republican.”
It appears that even though Catsimatidis is giving Adams a thumbs up, he is still in the corner of old friend, Curtis Sliwa.
“I know Curtis Sliwa for 30 years. I am fighting for Curtis. I always support Curtis,” Catsimatidis told The Post.
On the other hand. Dietl told the Post that he was a solid and unwavering backer of Adams for mayor of the city. In the past, Dietl has not been shy about launching stinging attacks on DeBlasio as it pertains to the job he has done in running the city.
“I supported Eric when he ran for state senate and when he ran for borough president. I’ve been on Eric’s bandwagon from the beginning,” Deitl told the Post, adding that he would like to be an “adviser” to Adams if he wins, as expected, in November.
The tab at Rao’s for the group was approximately $2000 and Deitl told the Post he split the bill with someone else at the table.
The tab that evening included 20 lamb chops (because John [Catsimatidis] is Greek,” Dietl said) and eventually ran to roughly $2,000, which the private eye told The Post he split with another person at the table.
The Post reported that Adams’ representative insisted the candidate ordered the eggplant parmigiana, without cheese, in keeping with his vegan diet.