Posted on 12/20/2023 7:07:53 PM PST by Reno89519
A new bill filed in the New York State Assembly aims to force some Chick-fil-A locations to operate seven days a week, threatening the fast food chain's longstanding policy of keeping its restaurants closed on Sundays.
The legislation proposed last week would require all food vendors operating at rest stops owned by the New York State Thruway Authority to open every day, and names Chick-fil-A as the reason behind the move.
"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 bill's justification reads. "Publicly owned service areas should use their space to maximally benefit the public. Allowing for retail space to go unused one seventh of the week or more is a disservice and unnecessary inconvenience to travelers who rely on these service areas."
Ever since it opened in 1946, Chick-fil-A has closed its locations on Sunday. It now has 3,000 locations in the U.S. The company currently operates seven restaurants owned by New York's Thruway Authority, and the proposed legislation would impact all future contracts.
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These are service plazas along the Thru way.
Let The State open its own restaurant, then.
NOTHING specifically targets Christian businesses. And Chick Fil-A is not a Christian business anyway. They are simply saying that these rest areas are open seven-days-a-week and vendors need to be open those same seven-days-a-week. Nothing more, nothing less.
Don’t be naive. CFA is the only business that closes one day a week - they are being targeted for being Christian and adhering to the old Sabbath principle.
If the original contract was specific that they had to be open on Sundays, the State Legislature wouldn't need to pass a Bill to force them to open. There are other concessions open at the various rest stops where Chic-fil-A, like Burger King, Starbucks, Panera, Shake Shack. There are Popeye's and Dunkin' Donuts at other rest stops where Chic-fil-A isn't. The New York State Thruway Authority has been horrible at keeping food concessions at their rest stops over the years. Near me, one of the rest stops isn't open, and hasn't been open for well over a year, supposedly due to renovations, but it doesn't even look like any work is being done on it.
Personally, I don't think the State has budgeted the money to have the work done to get them open either. They are saving money by charging higher tolls, but not providing enough open rest stops.
I did a search of NY State Thruway rest stops. There are 29 total rests stops on the Thruway, going east and west. 13 of those rest stops are closed, supposedly going through renovations. Of the 16 rest stops that are open, Chic-fil-A is at 7 of them. New York State has its own store Applegreen C-Store/Taste NY (open 24 hours) at all the open rest stops.
Government business? You and we would likely complain about that. Better the state finds companies that want to be open seven-days-a week. Again, I spent nearly 10 years driving back and forth on I-87 and visited those rest areas every trip. My biggest complaint was finding places closed, leaving no options.
This is a First Amendment issue.
“no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States”
Exactly. I really hope they do.
No, not all. This is state property. If they were demanding Chick Fil-A open Sundays at their own private property, that’d be a very different matter.
Interesting opinion. I have to admit, as soon as I read the word "force", I was against it.
Are folks really that addicted to rest areas along the I-95 corridor? Every mile or two there's an exit that has 4-5 restaurants/gas stations, many locally owned.
They used to have their own cafeterias at their rest stops, but years ago they eliminated them, and went with the fast food franchises. There used to be Roy Rogers, Quiznos, Sonic and even a Big Boy restaurant on the Thruway, but those are all gone now. Even McDonald's left in January of this year. Every open rest stop on the Thruway has an Applegreen C-Store which offers an assortment of hot food items as well as grab-and-go sandwiches and wraps, salads, coffee, snacks, drinks and more.
Ex post facto and Bill of Attainder.
I was quite surprised that Chick-fil-A would even sign a lease there, considering their operating model where they are closed on one of the busiest days of the week on the Thruway during peak travel seasons.
That makes it an Article I Section 10 issue.
What happens when the state signs a 33-year concession contract in 2020 with a public-private partnership to renovate, fill, and maintain the rest stops?
Article I Section 10
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
So which one do you think this NY state bill is, a bill of attainder against Chick-fil-a, an ex post facto law, or an impairment of the contract with the builders of the thruway rest stops?
Didn't Applegreen and Chick-fil-a have an expectation based on the contracts that the state is now trying to change?
-PJ
And the legislation is for future contracts. So in future, prospective vendors need to read the statement of work and if they agree, bid for the work, else pass it up.
Sorry, I don't see the controversy here.
The New York State Thruway should merely collect tolls between cities.
People should be able to freely exit near cities.
Look at the Massachusetts Turnpike toll booth placement. One can freely exit near Springfield and Worcester I believe.
The NYS Thruway Authority doesn’t directly control their service areas right now. Applegreen is the brand name for the private company that signed a lease with the Authority last year to renovate the service areas and operate them for 33 years.
You can “freely” exit and re-enter where ever you want. Pay out, then restart a new ticket when you get back on the road. I did that a lot over the years, no biggie.
It’s not a First Amendment issue. It’s actually a contract law issue where the terms of Chick-fil-A’s operations are dictated by their lease agreement with the private company that operates the service area.
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