NYC Officials Broker A Peace Between McDonald’s And Loitering Seniors

Lest you were expecting a full scale West Side Story-esque rumble between the group of elderly senior citizens and the workers at the Queens McDonald’s where they love to congregate, rest easy. Peace has been achieved between the two groups, and all it took to reach this McResolution was the intervention of some local elected officials.

After last week’s story on the group of Korean seniors who chafed at the McDonald’s limit of 20 minutes for customers to finish their food, management has agreed to work with the group and ease the limit during off-peak hours, reports the New York Daily News.

That policy will be posted in both Korean and Mandarin, and in turn the seniors will have to give up their prime seats between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. if someone else needs a spot to sit.

“We had to dig deeper to comprehend the pride of a small business owner as well as the pride of our seniors to seek a place to socialize,” said Assemblyman Ron Kim, who helped arrange the deal and dubs it a “McResolution” in a press release about the détente (view the entire release over at Politicker).

The restaurant says it will also look into hiring employees who speak Mandarin and Korean and a local senior center will have a shuttle service for any elderly patrons looking for somewhere else to rest a spell or just gab the day away.

It sounds like everyone is happy, with the franchise owner saying in a statement that he’s proud to serve the community, and that his “restaurant has been happy to welcome these customers for years.” The deal will provide an environment “where all customers who wish to enjoy this restaurant have the ability to do so.”

Queens seniors, McDonald’s manager reach deal on seating time limits [New York Daily News]

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