Several New York lawmakers are taking a swipe at Chick-fil-A by introducing a bill that requires any restaurant operating in a travel plaza along the New York State Thruway to remain open seven days a week, a step the chicken chain has long refused to take.
Seven Chick-fil-As currently operate in the official travel stops serving the highway, with more on the way. No other restaurant brand in the facilities appears to have a policy of closing on a regular schedule.
The bill, introduced last Wednesday, mentions Chick-fil-A by name and notes its longstanding policy of closing on Sundays. “While there is nothing objectionable about a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, service areas dedicated to travelers is an inappropriate location for such a restaurant,” the legislation states.
The bill was introduced by Assemblyman Representative Tony Simone, a Democrat from the West Side of Manhattan who has been a champion of LGBTQ rights. The bio on his official website indicates that Simone is married to another man.
He has three co-sponsors to date.
Chick-fil-A has drawn fire for supporting groups in the past that held marriage can only take place between a man and a woman. It has been accused repeatedly of being anti-gay and its leaders have acknowledged their conservative Christianity, which holds that homosexuality is wrong.
The policy of closing on Sundays grew out of that Christian orientation. Founder Truett Cathy initially imposed the rule of always closing on the Christian sabbath to provide time for managers and employees to attend church. But the company discovered the ironclad policy had practical business benefits. Would-be hires knew they’d have at least one day off per week, and that it would be a day their families also usually had off from work or school.
The chain maintained the policy even while most of its stores operated in shopping malls, where traffic often soars on Sundays. It refused to bend even as it moved into nontraditional sites with a significant Sunday population, like hospitals and colleges.
The New York State Highway Authority disputed the assertion in Simone’s bill that having a restaurant closed on Sunday would be an “unnecessary inconvenience” to travelers using the Thruway. In a statement, it noted that the travel plazas along the turnpike have all been leased for 33 years to an Irish travel-stop operator called Apple Green. Under the contract, Apple Green is obliged to have at least one restaurant operating around the clock at each location.
In addition, the statement indicated, any facility sporting a Chick-fil-A is required to have at least one other restaurant and a convenience store in operation seven days a week. Larger facilities could have up to three alternative restaurants available, according to the agency.
At the stop along U.S. Highway 87 in Plattekill, N.Y., for instance, consumers can frequent units of Burger King, Panera Bread, Starbucks and Auntie Anne’s if the Chick-fil-A is closed. A sign approaching the facility alerts travelers that the Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays.
The statement added that Apple Green took Chick-fil-A’s closed-on-Sunday policy into account when planning how it would accommodate travelers.
Assembly leadership has yet to assign Simone’s bill to a committee or otherwise take action on the measure.
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