NEW YORK – A new bill in New York could force Chick-fil-A to make a big change across the state.
The New York State Assembly has introduced a new bill called the Rest Stop Restaurant Act that would require food and beverage companies contracted to provide services along the expressway and at the Port Authority in New York and New Jersey , must stay open seven days per week – including the fast food restaurant that is known for being closed on Sundays.
Chick-fil-A has been closed every Sunday since it opened, and the chain currently operates 2,988 restaurants in 48 states
Applegreen, an Irish convenience store chain with a portfolio of businesses including Chick-fil-A, took over the leases for all Thruway Authority service areas in 2021. There are currently seven Chick-fil-A locations on the New York State Expressway, with three more planned to be built.
“While there is nothing wrong with a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, traveler service areas are an inappropriate location for such a restaurant,” the bill reads in part. “Public service areas should use their space to provide maximum benefit to the public. Allowing retail spaces to remain unused for a seventh of the week or more is a disservice and unnecessary inconvenience to travelers who rely on these service areas.”
The only exception to the seven-day operating requirement in the new legislation is for “temporary concessions such as farmers markets or local vendors.”
One of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Tony Simone, spoke with ABC News Albany affiliate WTEN about the importance of ensuring New York State's transportation facilities provide reliable food service.
“You know, we get hungry when we're out and about. Maybe we don’t like our brother-in-law’s or sister-in-law’s cooking and we want to treat ourselves to a snack on Christmas Eve,” said Simone. “To find one of the restaurants on the expressway closed is simply not in the public interest.”
WTEN also reports that a Thruway official who also spoke with them said regarding the bill, “All 27 rest stops that were part of the $450 million project were built without tolls or tax dollars and Chick- fil-A has already signed a 33-year contract with the Thruway.
Simone clarified that “the Thruways are designed primarily to serve New York travelers,” adding that he finds it “ridiculous” that a food provider could “close on Sunday – one of the busiest travel days of the week.” .
Simone and the bill's other sponsors are currently looking for co-sponsors to help pass the legislation during the current legislative session in Albany.
The restaurant chain did not comment on the bill.
WABC and ABC News contributed to this report.