Christine Quinn Wants Chick-fil-A Kicked Out of New York City
Chick-fil-A is the most talked about restaurant in America right now, if you only count politicians. New York City Councillor Christine Quinn has gone a step further than saying "we don't want you here." Quinn's written a letter and started a petition asking Chick-fil-A be kicked out of New York.
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Mayor Bloomberg said it wouldn't be appropriate for the government "to look at somebody's political views and decide whether or not they can live in the city, or operate a business in the city, or work for somebody in the city," on his Friday radio show. "Trampling on the freedom to marry whoever you want is exactly the same as trampling on your freedom to open a store," he said.
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Earlier this week, Boston's Mayor wrote a letter to Chick-fil-A saying he'd block them from coming to his city because of the company's admission they have an anti-gay stance. (He's since admitted he couldn't do that.) A Chicago Alderman said he'd use his power to block them from getting the proper permits to build in Chicago. The Muppets stopped working with Chick-fil-A, too.
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Today, Council Speaker Christine Quinn took it a step further and wrote a letter to NYU President John Sexton asking him to sever ties with the chain, effectively kicking them out of the city. The only Chick-fil-A in New York is located on the NYU campus. She also asked that, should he kick them out, the employees from the Chick-fil-A be given new jobs with whatever restaurant they get to replace it. She also started a petition demanding Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy apologize and change his position on gay marriage.
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Law professors have pointed out that denying them the right to build within their city violates their First Amendment right, but Quinn's request is different. NYU is a private university with a huge population of gay students. It might be easier (and legal) for them to get out of their contract, or simply not renew it once their current deal is up, than a government body not allowing them to build.
