SAN FRANCISCO — The only Giants bar in enemy territory here is going to need extra security this weekend!
A former Westchester County resident who owns a New York-centric sports bar in the heart of Frisco is expecting a flood of Big Apple fans for Sunday’s game — and preparing to face the wrath of the 49ers’ faithful.
“We’re gonna have a few extra security guards,” said Ace’s owner Scott Broccoli (pictured). “We just want to make sure there aren’t any knuckleheads out there that come by after the game — especially if the Giants win.”
Broccoli, 37, who is originally from Dobbs Ferry, said he opened the bar in 2005 “to be a home away from home for New Yorkers.”
Ace’s is covered wall to wall in Big Apple sports memorabilia, from a jersey with the name of Giants great Mark Bavaro to original seats from the old Yankee and Shea stadiums.
Broccoli moved to San Francisco from New York in the late 1990s to work in finance. When he lost his job in the dot-com crash, he took work tending bar. That’s when the businessman in him recognized a major hole in the local San Francisco bar market and opened Ace’s.
“There was no clear place for New Yorkers to get together and root for their teams,” said the married father of one daughter.
“It totally baffled me, because there are so many New Yorkers here in San Francisco. All the other teams had bars in San Francisco that people would go to. I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a Giants bar.
“So that’s our niche, and it’s been great.”
There is one city squad for which Ace’s has no love: the Jets. Gang Green fans go to a bar down the street to drown their sorrows.
So many Giants fans figure to show up for the NFC Championship Game on Sunday against the 49ers that passing San Franciscans may think they’re lost.
“This place is going to be rocking,” Broccoli said. “You’re going to hear a lot of ‘Let’s go, Giants,’ in the middle of San Francisco.”
FDNY Firefighter Brian Doyle, 37, of Ladder No. 45 in Washington Heights, is taking a bunch of his pals to the game — and, of course, will be partying at Ace’s.
“It’s awesome to have a place like Ace’s to go in San Fran,” Doyle said.