Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Controversial McDonald's closes


From the Queens Chronicle:

A company representative forwarded the Chronicle a statement from owner/operator Jack Bert, who thanked the community for its patronage over the years, as well as his employees, “all of whom have been offered the opportunity to work in our other restaurants,” a number believed to be between 20 and 25. Most if not all have accepted the jobs, a McDonald’s spokeswoman said.

The company would not give a reason for the abrupt shutdown, though Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Flushing) and John Choe, the executive director of the Flushing Chamber of Commerce, offered their takes.

Kim said in the big picture that new restaurants and eateries — many of them well-financed by conglomerates — are springing up in Flushing all the time with access to marketing money, technology and social media expertise.

He said Flushing’s economic success has driven up property values, with commercial rent on Main Street “now higher than what is found in Midtown Manhattan.”

But he also said this particular McDonald’s had a strained relationship with the neighborhood’s Korean community going back more than five years when the owner attempted to keep elderly Korean residents from taking up tables for hours at a time to socialize while he was trying to keep customers flowing.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

"the owner attempted to keep elderly Korean residents from taking up tables for hours at a time to socialize while he was trying to keep customers flowing."

How dare you try to run a business and make a profit! can't offend the Koreans in Flushing, they'll sit as long as they want and theres nothing you can do about it.

Anonymous said...

Rules are rules. Follow them or go home .

Anonymous said...

It's sad that the elderly have to resort to going to a franchise restaurant to socialize and kill time. The fact is that there aren't enough senior home facilities for them to go to in queens. It is up to the local leaders to address the issue but when they have to choose between regular housing issues (high rents) its just easier to look the other way and ignore the needs of aging class.

Anonymous said...

Any fast food joint closing should be celebrated

Anonymous said...

"The fact is that there aren't enough senior home facilities for them to go to in queens."


You gotta be kidding. Flushing is filled with adult day care centers, senior centers and the such. There is even transportation to get them there and free food and refreshments. Many seniors prefer not to go to them because they don't consider themselves to be "seniors".

Anonymous said...

If I were BigMac I'd just revert to take out windows only. But in any case. Whatever!

Anonymous said...

We can thank the 'Occupy Wall Street' group for this. They started the idea that all businesses are really public spaces. All of the businesses along their sites had to get used to having them use and bathe in their restrooms or they would be shut down with foot traffic.

Disgusting.

georgetheatheist said...

What about the patrons in Starbucks? Don't they just hang around and take up space?

Anonymous said...

The one near me in Glen Oaks is a hangout in the morning for several older ex-cons who treat the place like a social club. They buy a soda or coffee then hang out for an hour or two, talking loudly, cursing, going outside for a smoke or to scheme with each other and coming back in. I know they are ex-cons from hearing them talk loudly. I think I'd rather have a few older Koreans than these guys.

Anonymous said...

You gotta be kidding. Flushing is filled with adult day care centers, senior centers and the such.

Not to mention the multitude of Korean cafes/coffee shops, like Paris Baguette, Koryod@ng, Le Bbang, etc. They can hang out in those places, too, but those shops might not give senior citizen discounts or $1 coffees.

Anonymous said...

I was glad when they put a time limit on them. Why dont they hang out at their own million dollar houses in their illegally converted houses if they want to socialize that much? Its 8 bucks for some coffee and 30 bucks for a coffee maker, they could have all saved money by just doing that while their grandkids went out to their overcrowded schools.

Anonymous said...

Koreans do not have senior centers. I don't know why they don't open them. My guess is because they are a very proud people. All the senior centers you see are Chinese. The Chinese sees no shame in being old, and enjoy being around each other doing taichi or the women do their dances. Koreans have a totally different culture. Their men are "big-macho mens" and hang out only with each other. Their women are left alone to do their own thing. You won't see a Korean man grocery shopping with his wife. If you do, they are chinese. Divorce rates are high in Korean community. Their family structure is weak. I know this because I went to school/friends with a bunch/some of them, and so many of them have divorced parents. So it doesn't surprise me that Koreans don't open up Senior Centers. It goes against their "macho" man culture.

Anonymous said...

CONDO'S BABY !! MORE CONDO'S !!

TommyR said...

not news when a place that doesn't match what people want closes, especially due to a growing economy. it'll be replaced by a cafe or bakery or store offering different choices. big woop.

Anonymous said...

Any senior can go to the local senior center. If Koreans are prejudiced against Chinese that's their problem. As mentioned above there are so many places for seniors that have transportation, breakfast, lunch, snacks, classes, parties, social workers, free tickets to plays, movies, events and trips.

They consider themselves some kind of Mafia and when they were asked to leave the McDonalds after sitting there for two hours, they got their cronies on board to bug the American owner. Life in Korea is under serious constraint with a strong tradition of opposition, passive and aggressive, to the government.

McDonald's is a franchise- I hope he moves it somewhere else where he can make a profit. The losers are the employees who are now out of jobs and not paying taxes. Happy now?

Anonymous said...

Exactly, you are right about the mafia comparison. The Chinese have known the Koreans to be Mafia-like. I knew an older chinese woman that described Korean men as 'macho-thugs'.

Not loitering is just common sense.

Anonymous said...

No different than the old time white mafioso demanding that Asian markets stock cold cuts, soda and other carcinogens.

Anonymous said...

send all the bastards HOME

Anonymous said...

Bring back the Parson Inn!

Anonymous said...

I gotta say "DONT FUCK WITH SENIOR" HAHAHAHA....Honestly, I am glad this mcdonalds closed. They wont build condos as this particular building is attached to a Flower Shop, T-Mobile, Upscale Dental Clinic and Pizza Hut which are all money pits. I would hope they open a nice Korean Cafes, much better than Mcdonalds, I am really glad they closed it and no I am not Korean or Chinese.