NEW YORK -- Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Monday he did not think a theme restaurant and shoot'em-up arcade run by the National Rifle Association could realistically survive in Times Square.
Leaders of the gun lobbying organization announced Friday that they wanted to open up a restaurant and gift shop much like Planet Hollywood and the ESPN Zone, except with firearms as the theme. The restaurant's menu would feature wild game, as would the arcade, the association said.Democratic lawmakers and gun-control advocates have condemned the NRA's proposal, saying it is an attempt by the association to interest children in guns.
Giuliani said there was no need for him to take a position on the propriety of the restaurant because he believed it would never open.
"Well, I don't think it is going to happen, I don't see how that is really realistic, that they are going to open a store on Times Square," Giuliani said. "It is unrealistic in light of all the resources that would be necessary and all of the plans that I know for Times Square."
Giuliani was more explicit at a reception honoring the Walt Disney Co.'s efforts to revive Times Square. "Now, everyone wants to be in Times Square, even the NRA," the mayor said. "Don't worry, it won't happen."
Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president, said the association would sue if the city tried to stop the restaurant. He said the mayor was mistaken in his economic analysis in that millions of sport shooters would visit the restaurant. He said that despite the high rent, the venture would be profitable.
"The numbers don't scare me," LaPierre said. "We can match World Wrestling. We can match ESPN." He would not say when the NRA planned to open the restaurant, but he did say he was negotiating for space in or near the Times Square area.
Giuliani administration officials said that since the store had no intention of selling guns, there was little legally that they could do to stop it. City officials pointed out that zoning rules obviously did not prohibit restaurants in Times Square.
But the mayor's aides said his remarks reflected his belief that an NRA restaurant could not make enough money to survive in a neighborhood where ground-floor rents top $7 million a year.
In addition, recent Midtown Manhattan history is littered with the tales of failed theme restaurants, like the Fashion Cafe and the Motown Cafe. Many of the existing restaurants, like the All-Star Cafe and Planet Hollywood, are struggling. Others were announced but did not open, including the David Copperfield restaurant.
Brendan Sexton, the president of the Times Square Business Improvement District, disagreed with the mayor's assessment of restaurant economics. He said that space was available and that arcade and theme restaurants had worked in Times Square.
"Look around," he said as he stood in Times Square and gestured behind him to the ESPN Zone, the most successful theme restaurant to open recently.
But Sexton said he did not want the NRA to come to Times Square. At a news conference with Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., Sexton said he hoped that landlords in the neighborhood would not rent to the association.
Schumer said that if the NRA did move into Times Square, he would push the city or the state to revoke any tax breaks that the property owners receive.
Some gun-control advocates said Monday that they agreed with the mayor that it was unrealistic that the NRA would open a store. Barbara Hohlt, chairwoman of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, said the rifle association might just be trying to provoke city residents. And Sexton said the association's announcement could be more of a publicity stunt than a realistic suggestion.