New York Democrats are telling Chick-fil-a to “serve mor chikin”—or ship out.
Two Democrats sponsored a bill that, if passed, will require food service locations at publicly owned service areas and rest stops to remain open seven days of the week. The bill mentions Chick-fil-a directly as a prime (the only) example of a fast-food chain located at NY Thruway rest stops that is not open for business seven days a week.
The bill’s sponsors, New York state assemblyman Tony Simone and state senator Michelle Hinchey, claim all they want is to feed the hungry on the busiest travel day of the week.
Chick-fil-a, famously closed on Sundays, would be directly affected. They would have to staff their kitchens at seven locations—soon to be 10—on the Thruway on a day when they have never been open.
At first glance, this idea might not seem so radical. The chicken chain has more than 3000 locations. They can hold fast to their no-Sunday tradition at the rest of them and follow the new rules of the road at a few rest stops in the blue state that is losing population at a faster rate than anywhere else in the Union.
“The travelling public and commercial trucking industry rely on these service areas to rest, refuel, and to purchase food and beverages,” the bill claims.
This is what the New York Democrats are running with—that they care deeply about the lean protein intake of freight haulers and families of four, i.e. Deplorables.
Assemblyman Tony Simone, who lives in Hells Kitchen with his husband, told Abby Phillip on CNN that even if Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, every restaurant on the Thruway would be mandated to serve customers.
State senator Michelle Hinchey, the daughter of a late Democrat congressman whose Internet bio shares that “Food is my hobby,” similarly made her case on X.
“If you have a coveted spot on the Thruway, a public good, you should serve the people on the busiest travel day of the week. Just common sense.”
It was the same argument during COVID, was it not? If a business is on public property or receives public funds, it must comply with whatever the Democrat decrees.
Neither Hinchey nor Simone bothered to pretend their new policy is to help Chick-fil-a see past outdated obstacles, expand opportunity for employees or increase profit margins.
Think about it. Fifty-two more days of profit per year for a franchise could send sales skyrocketing. Yet, Chick-fil-a is willing to forego this potential for the sake of tradition.
In fact, despite one fewer day to generate sales each week, Chick-fil-a manages to stay at the top of fast-food charts. In 2022, the chicken virtuosos placed third in system-wide sales, trailing only McDonald’s and Starbucks.
That same year it was tops in average unit volume, meaning sales per restaurant. The company does quite well without help—and often with hindrance—from government.
But in Democrat land, “Sundays off” means a whole day’s worth of waffle fries from which New York cannot rake in sales tax. Try as they might to paint themselves as the capitalist resistance, the Democrat Party, top to bottom, puts efficiency above institution—how much can they levy at the expense of your tradition.
So this bill is another targeted attack in the ongoing war on Chick-fil-a, one of few major corporations still allocating Sundays off for employees, a wish from the brand’s late founder S. Truett Cathy.
The bill’s justification begins, “While there is nothing objectionable about a fast-food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week…”
(Here comes the litany of objections.)
“…service areas dedicated to travelers is an inappropriate location for such a restaurant.”
Aha! Simone’s and Hinchey’s goal is not to force Chick-fil-a to staff Sunday shifts. It’s to drive them off the premises entirely.
Chick-fil-a historically has not backed down to any seven-day efforts in almost a century of operations. So the duo, along with their deep-state Democrat co-sponsors, want to crush the chicken giant one rest stop at a time.
“Publicly owned service areas should use their space to maximally benefit the public,” the bill continues. “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.”
Watered down so effectively by the Left, “maximal benefit” is now swallowed now only subjectively. To Democrat apparatchiks like Simone and Hinchey, “maximal benefit” is achieved when politicians in a one-party state are willing to stomp on religious freedom so an over-the-road truck driver can grab a lemonade whenever he wants.
At one point in time, “maximal benefit” would have meant creating a situation in which a rest-stopper might be reminded to make time for his faith or family.
While a spicy chicken deluxe on your Sunday trip home might sound scrumptious enough to side with the comrades in Albany, this is yet another slippery slope best avoided.
The government hates religion and tradition when it interferes with their ideas of progress and efficiency, which is often. Politicians want you pacified by your cookies ‘n’ cream shake and focused on them—not reminded that it’s Sunday when you wonder why there’s no line at the Chick-fil-a drive-thru.
“Sundays off” is not some sinister way to convert all of America to Christianity or a power trip to push nugget abstinence on the general population. It is a way to remind customers that there is more to life than work, more to work than profits, and more to profits than politics.
You would think the Democrats, seemingly always trumpeting about the soul of the nation and common decency (not to mention employees’ rights to a life outside work) would approve of that—not drive out its proponents.
Chick-fil-a has yet to comment on the proposed eviction notice. Odds are their response will not be the usual “My pleasure.”