He wants to be the Big Cheese!
The owner of one of New York’s most famous eateries is exploring a run for mayor.
Junior’s Restaurant proprietor Alan Rosen — upset with crime and quality of life complaints in the Big Apple — wants to bring his cheese cake making skills to City Hall.
Rosen recently met with campaign strategist Hank Sheinkopf, Bill Cunningham and Mitchell Moss, who served as political advisors to former three-term mayor, Mike Bloomberg, to discuss what it takes to run for mayor — and win, The Post has learned.
“Rosen said he’s interested in running for mayor,” Sheinkopf said after meeting with him.
“He’s an impressive guy. He runs a great business. He has that blue collar, Brooklyn edge about him.”
Rosen confirmed he’s been huddling with people in government and politics about the road to City Hall.
“I could be known as the hospitality mayor for all New Yorkers. I don’t see that right now,” Rosen, whose restaurants in Times Square and downtown Brooklyn are NYC classics, told The Post.
The third-generation Junior’s owner described himself as a “moderate Republican” who would look to secure the GOP nomination.
“I’m not a Democrat. I don’t believe in that far-left stuff. I’m fiscally conservative and socially liberal,” Rosen, 55, said.
“I want to run if the stars align. I’m only doing this if I can win.”
The Post spoke to Rosen in March, when he ripped into the conditions in New York City — the migrant crisis, a weakened bail law that has emboldened criminals including shoplifting and an overall sense of disorder.
Little has changed since then, he said.
“I’m not a politician. I’m someone who wants to make the city better. Do I see a city that could be more liveable for everyone? Yes,” he said.
His restaurants have been visited by heavyweight pols including former President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
He stopped short of criticizing Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who is up for re-election next year.
“I’m sure he’s doing the best that he can,” Rosen said.
A big personal difference between the current City Hall occupant and the wannabe: Adams is famously vegan, and Rosen likes his corned beef.
A campaign rep for Adams declined comment.
The Junior’s proprietor cited his business skills as a strength in running the nation’s largest metropolis.
“I know what a budget is,” Rosen said.
Rosen said he’s struck by how many hotels have been converted into migrant shelters instead of serving tourists, including near his restaurants.
And a few of the migrants are accused of committing heinous crimes.
“This is not an attack on migrants. It’s an attack on lawlessness. It shouldn’t happen,” he said.
But running as a Republican in Democratic-dominated New York won’t be a cakewalk.
Sheinkopf said New Yorkers will vote for a Republican alternative only when they lose confidence in Democrats for screw-ups, or during a crisis.
Voters elected former federal prosecutor Republican Rudy Giuliani as mayor in 1993 and 1997 to address out-of-control crime
They backed billionaire businessman Mike Bloomberg to three terms to help revive the city after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack.
Both Giuliani and Bloomberg were listed on the ballot on second ballot lines to help woo Democrats to vote for them. Giuliani ran on the Liberal Party line; Bloomberg the Independence Party ballot.
Bloomberg also spent hundreds of millions of dollars of his fortune to help get elected.
Rosen would have to assemble a similar Republican-reform coalition to have a shot at winning.
While spending much of his time in the city, Rosen acknowledges that he lives in Westchester County.
He would have to establish residence in the city by Election Day 2025 to be eligible to run, which he said he would do.