They’re black and white and possibly coming to live in New York City for the first time.
New York City supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis says he is trying to convince the Chinese government to loan out panda bears to the Big Apple’s Central Park Zoo.
“I’ll even pick them up,” Catsimatidis told The Post. “Kids have nothing to look forward to in New York City right now. It will be a symbol of peace and culture.”
The billionaire radio show host claims the big lovable bears could bring in more than 10 million tourists to New York, as the city’s tourism industry has been slow to recover from COVID — with foot traffic in Lower Manhattan still down 33% from what it was before the pandemic.
Catsimatidis, 75, says he already has a line of communication with the Chinese ambassador about bringing the pandas to NYC zoos.
The billionaire businessman plans to hold a press conference later on Tuesday about the move.
Catsimatidis says he is speaking with the Chinese ambassador about the plan. Robert MillerFollowing the announcement, Catsimatidis hopes to get the ball rolling on forming a commission to try and get the animals to New York City.
The former mayoral candidate previously co-chaired a campaign to open a panda pavilion in Central Park back in 2017, urging former President Donald Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump to join the effort to import two pandas from China.
Catsimatidis isn’t the only one witnessing the “panda-monium” that erupted after China reclaimed a trio of the lovable bears from the nation’s capital earlier this month.
New York City supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis says he hopes to bring pandas to the Big Apple. AFP via Getty ImagesPandas Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and cub Xiao Qi Ji returned to China on Nov. 8 after failed negotiations to extend their stay at Washington’s National Zoo.
San Diego and Memphis previously surrendered their pandas — leaving just four in Atlanta.
About a week after the big bears returned home, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he plans to dispatch additional pandas to American zoos, calling the creatures “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”
Catsimatidis previously expressed support of bringing the beloved bears to New York City. Gregory P. Mango“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” Xi said at a dinner hosted by the National Committee on US-China Relations and the US-China Business Council last week.
“I was told that many American people, especially children, were really reluctant to say goodbye to the pandas, and went to the zoo to see them off,” Xi added.
The news comes as three bears were taken from Washington DC back home to China. APThe dinner, which coincided with the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, followed a press conference where Biden called Xi a “dictator” despite Chinese officials expressing outrage after the US president made the same remark behind closed doors at a June fundraiser.
China’s decision to take back pandas followed tensions with Washington that began during Trump’s time in office and worsened with the COVID pandemic, which some US agencies assess began with a leak from a Chinese lab doing risky research before killing more than 1.1 million Americans.
