It’s not a First Amendment violation … any more than the state could require a Christian-owned towing company to be available for emergency response services on a Sunday as a condition of having a towing contract with the state government.
If you want to be a Christian business, that’s fine. But you simply may not be suitable to work in a public domain in a facility that operates 24/7.
The state in this case isn’t doing anything that isn’t commonly done by landlords of indoor shopping malls. Stores that lease space in those malls typically cannot be closed at any time when the mall itself is open.
The point you seem to want to ignore is that NYS should not be allowed to force CFA to be open on Sundays. Period. And until the leases for each restaurant on thruways is up, neither should anyone else unless it is contractually allowed. After that they can do what they all want to do.
By golly, regarding Malls, you are right! I am now very disappointed that I was never able to get Chick-fil-A at White Marsh mall. I foolishly thought that the bars across the entrance meant they were closed when the mall was open!
Good news for those who like Chick-fil-A! Mall restaurants are open on Sunday!
Wait, you meant some malls allow Chick-Fil-A to be there and be closed Sundays? (psst ... so do thruway stops, for now. Get over it. Take Rt 20. whatever.)