By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — As the world awaits word of whether LeBron James will come to the Knicks, it seems an Upper East Side strip club knows something the rest of us don't.
Sapphire New York, a high-end gentlemen's club that opened last year in Scores former home at 333 East 60th St., painted a larger-than-life mural of LeBron James on their facade in hopes of attracting him to their establishment — and Manhattan. But by Wednesday afternoon, the image was painted over, periwinkle blue.
"It doesn't look good," said Dave Nelson, 49, day manager at Sapphire, about the chances New York landing James. "We made our statement. We did what we had to do with it, it wasn't going to be a part of the decor forever."
Peter Davila, 38, head of maintenance at Sapphire, said the club had a whole welcoming package ready for King James.
"If he picks New York, we're going to name a steak after him and we're going to name a room after him," Davila said of James.
James has scheduled his long-awaited announcement for Thursday at 9 p.m. during an hour-long program on ESPN.
At a Community Board 8 meeting Tuesday, where the Street Life committee approved Sapphire's application to transfer its liquor license to a new management team, several members of the board expressed concern that the James mural looked like graffiti.
A former employee, George Lopez, painted the wall-sized picture of James with the words "LeBron 23" written underneath as a way to join in the excitement of the player's free agency, Davila said.
Murals of James have cropped up around the city, including at Harlem's famous Rucker Park, and the Broadway cast of "Promises, Promises" even performed a little ditty reminding the star that New York has everything, including his favorite cereal, Fruity Pebbles.
Celebrities have also gotten in on the act, with everyone from Chris Rock to Alec Baldwin trying to persuade James to move to the city.
James met with the Knicks last week and said he would announce his decision Thursday.
