Some Chick-fil-A Locations May Soon Be Forced To Operate On Sundays

Nothing tests your patience more than craving Chick-fil-A on a Sunday. Well, fans of the fast food chain may be in luck thanks to a new bill put forth by The New York State Assembly. According to Good Morning America, the new bill is known as the Rest Stop Restaurant Act, and if passed, will require that food and beverage companies with service contracts along the Thruway and at New York and New Jersey’s Port Authority to operate every day of the week. Chick-fil-A currently has seven locations at Thruway service areas. 

“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 states. “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.”

Temporary concessions such as farmers’ markets or local vendors are exempt from the legislation. Assemblyman Tony Simone, one of the bill’s sponsors, spoke to ABC News Albany affiliate WTEN about the bill, saying that it’s important there are reliable food services available to people at New York State’s transportation facilities.

“You know, we get hungry when we’re traveling. We may not like our brother-in-law or sister-in-law’s cooking and wanna get a snack on Christmas Eve,” Simone said. “To find one of the restaurants closed on the thruway is just not in the public good.”

WTEN’s report also included a quote from a Thruway official, who said, “All 27 service areas that were a part of the $450 million project were built with no toll or tax dollars and that Chick-fil-A already signed a 33-year contract with the Thruway.”

Simone underscored the purpose of the Thruway, saying that “the Thruways are meant to serve New York travelers first.” He believes that for a food provider to be closed on one of the busiest travel days of the week is ridiculous. Simon and others behind the bill are currently looking for co-sponsors to help secure approval of the legislation.