San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is putting the sanctity of the city’s famed cable cars on the line in a bet on the 49ers’ NFC Championship game against the New York Giants at Candlestick Park on Sunday.
Lee and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have agreed to the terms of a friendly wager on Sunday’s game–if the 49ers win, 49th Street in Manhattan will be renamed 49ers Street for one day, and Bloomberg will have to send a dozen bagels from Bagel Oasis in Queens to San Francisco.
But if New York wins, Lee will have to outfit a Powell Street cable car with the team’s blue and red flags, and also send Boudin sourdough bread to the Big Apple, according to the mayor’s office.
Lee said in a statement, “49ers fever is sweeping our city and the entire Bay Area region, and we are so proud of our hometown team.”
“We’re going all the way to the Super Bowl. The Giants will have to leave their hearts and their Super Bowl hopes in San Francisco,” he said.
Bloomberg countered with a statement saying the Giants “are going to breeze by the 49ers,” whose fans “will be left with a taste as sour as their famous bread.”
According to the Lee’s office, the mayor had initially considered asking Bloomberg to temporarily rename New York City as Jed York City, after the 49ers’ president, before agreeing to the terms of the wager.
The 49ers’ thrilling 36-32 win over the New Orleans Saints last week already won Lee and his staff a bet against that city’s mayor.
Mayor Mitchell Landrieu agreed to send fresh Louisiana seafood, a Sucre king cake and Abita beer to Lee if the Saints lost, and now has to pay up.
Lee is in Washington, D.C., today for the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Sunday’s game between the 49ers and Giants will kick off at 3:30 p.m. at Candlestick Park.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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