Wallenda walk above Manhattan? Forget it, says NYPD

New York's top police officer says Nik Wallenda's hope of tightrope walking between the city's most famous skyscrapers just isn't going to fly.

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly was asked on Monday about the possibility of Wallenda, a member of the famous "Flying Wallendas" circus family, walking a tightrope between the Chrysler and Empire State buildings.

The daredevil completed a walk over a gorge near the Grand Canyon on Sunday, walked over Niagara Falls a year ago, and was eyeing the canyons of Manhattan for his next death-defying attempt.

"I would say no," Kelly said. "I think it's dangerous." He added that any attempt could be hazardous to those on the ground underneath in case of a fall.

"Here, there's thousands of New Yorkers who certainly could be put at risk. So I don't think it would be wise in this city," Kelly said.

But it's not like it hasn't been done before. Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist, gained fame for his unauthorized high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on Aug. 7, 1974. He was arrested afterward, but all charges were dropped.

Wallenda walked a quarter-mile Sunday without a safety net or harness, 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River Gorge. The 22-minute walk on a 2-inch cable was watched worldwide on television and computers.

He said Sunday night it was too early to say when any New York plan would materialize, but added that he wouldn't attempt it if the law didn't allow it.

"I'm a man of integrity and a man of my word. If I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it, and I'm going to honor everybody that's involved," Wallenda said.

Wallenda, 34, is a seventh-generation high-wire artist from a family known for high-risk stunts. -- AP