Dining and dashing about with Gristedes and WABC Radio owner John Catsimatidis

John Catsimatidis. The guy’s everywhere. Crabgrass. No place he’s not. Gristedes will probably name a cereal after him.

Born poor. On a Greek island. Now a USA billionaire. He always calls 6 p.m. Says, “I’ll pick you up in 10 minutes. Find a restaurant.” What restaurant? I’m not dressed. He says, “Find one. I’ll pick you up in 10 minutes.”

He’s in the oil business. In aviation. In realty. On radio because he owns WABC, whose president is Chad Lopez.

Begun here as a poor grocery clerk, he realized better to own the store. Realtors wanted his location. So he bought an airline. Then an oil well. John doesn’t hold a grudge. We fight even when his beautiful wife Margo agrees with me. He says, be nice to people. Watch: The next 10 minutes, he’ll probably buy out CBS.

John: “You fight when you’re climbing that mountain, I already climbed it. Those people wear Rolexes. I wear an Apple.”

“Once Arthur Goldberg owned White Rose foods. Mean-spirited, in the trucking business, then he died. Look, I help people, never hurt anyone because there’s no upside. I came here 6 months old. Three bedrooms uptown, 5 ¹/₂ rooms, $48 a month rent. My father worked seven days a week as a busboy at ­Longchamps on 42nd and Lex. I do not hurt people.

“Look, I’ve been scared. I remember telling my wife I’m putting up all our money to buy this airline. She said, ‘Do what you have to.’ I didn’t have kids until I was 42. Without kids, nothing to lose. You go back to work, live in a one-bedroom, sell apples on the street.

“My friend Donald would call me and complain ‘You got my traffic all screwed up.’ Once the president turned to me and said, ‘John, sometimes I can’t believe we’re here.’ And he’s president of the United States.”

So I’ve known John for 50 years. First he was on the dais for the Republican Party. Next day he gave a party for Hillary. I thought what is this? Republican one day, Democrat the next?

“I do it all. Used to go to Hunts Point Market 4 a.m. to buy the produce. So I sleep in two shifts. Sometimes four hours. I’m up 1 a.m. to 5. I sleep again until 6. You and I are the only people I know who are conversing at 4 in the morning.

“Once I had children I stopped living on the edge. Stopped being an entrepreneur. I looked for opportunities and got asked if I wanted to buy WABC for $12.5 million? I bought it blind. Look, I graduated from groceries to aviation which became NetJets. Then real estate, then oil business, then WABC.”

I told him, listen, it’s very boring to talk to you. And certainly I will take my nap when next we have dinner.

I’m also thinking not just about the types who make up my city — but the city itself.

People here are just surviving in its 13 miles long and three hours wide space. Always hearing: “Somewhere someday somebody’s going to fix the traffic.” Other places got Main Street. We got Wall Street.

I know we got culture. But so does yogurt. We got museums. Also the best pretzels, hot dogs, street food. Also bagels. If you ever bought a bagel in Mississippi, the thing tastes like a raw worm. We got the Plaza, Pierre, Waldorf, St. Regis, Carlyle, Regency. What have you got in Minneapolis? Motel 6?

It’s “Give My Regards to Broadway,” doesn’t mention Main Street. Or Weehawken. I mean, “Weehawken, it’s a helluva town just doesn’t cut it.”

It’s only in New York, kids, only in New York.