/ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, February 11, 2014, 8:01 PM . Print Share This URL: David Weprin , candidate for Congress speaks during the Editorial Board Meeting in the Brooklyn Conference Room at the Daily News office. Bonifacio,Mark,,New York Daily News
Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) is working to broker a compromise between elderly patrons at a Richmond Hill Burger King and the restaurant's management over how long the seniors spend in their favorite corner of the restaurant. Another Queens lawmaker is trying to cook up a McCompromise. Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows) hopes to broker an accord that would cut the mustard for fast-food franchisees as well as seniors who like to loaf in their restaurants, and he’s pledged to help spearhead a new tax credit for businesses that agree to let seniors linger.
“The idea would be to reward helping the local community and local seniors even though it wouldn’t be extremely profitable having these seniors there for extended hours,” said Weprin, whose staffers visited the Little Guyana franchise on Tuesday. This Little Guyana Burger King is the scene of tensions between management who want the restaurant's seats available for paying customers and elderly patrons who would like to stay all afternoon Tobias Salinger/New York Daiy News This Little Guyana Burger King is the scene of tensions between management who want the restaurant's seats available for paying customers and elderly patrons who would like to stay all afternoon
Weprin hopes to hold a summit between the store’s managers, the seniors and area nonprofits, and he wants to deliver a happy-meal deal that would let seniors congregate inside the busy Liberty Ave. restaurant during non-peak hours. “They’re going to get together and have a meeting together to solve the problem,” said Burger King manager Sohail Irshad, who said of the seniors: “They’re sitting over here like it’s a garden, like Central Park.”
Seniors at the restaurant Tuesday said they’re willing to help Weprin find common ground to ease the deep-fried tension that’s developed around the group of a dozen or so men who like to gab over a single tea or coffee. State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, (D-NY) Assembly man Ron Kim, (D-NY),) U. S. Representative Grace Meng, (D-Queens, NY) community leaders and seniors hold a press conference in front of the McDonald's restaurant at Northern Boulevard and Parsons Boulevard, where a truce between seniors socializing at the restaurant and the restaurant's owner's need for paying customers, was brokered by Assemblyman Ron Kim, (D-NY), on Monday, January 20th, 2014, Flushing, Queens, NY. Jesse Ward/Jesse Ward for New York Daily Ne State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, (D-NY) Assembly man Ron Kim, (D-NY),) U. S. Representative Grace Meng, (D-Queens, NY) community leaders and seniors hold a press conference in front of the McDonald's restaurant at Northern Boulevard and Parsons Boulevard, where a truce between seniors socializing at the restaurant and the restaurant's owner's need for paying customers, was brokered by Assemblyman Ron Kim, (D-NY), on Monday, January 20th, 2014, Flushing, Queens, NY.
“People don’t stay during peak hours,” said Joe Singh, 78. “If people come, we move.” But another area senior, Kenneth Doobay, 66, pointed to the 20-minute restriction posted on the restaurant’s window. “That has to come down,” Doobay said. The crowded Burger King has a corner where elderly Guyanese immigrants enjoy sitting over a single tea or coffee. TObias Salinger/New York Daily News
The crowded Burger King has a corner where elderly Guyanese immigrants enjoy sitting over a single tea or coffee. Weprin has been coordinating his effort with another state lawmaker, Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Flushing), who worked with the owner of a Flushing McDonald’s to ease restrictions on seniors and arrange for transportation to an area senior center. Kim’s bill, which he’s calling the “Community Corner Cafe” tax credit, would help any business that works with local nonprofits and a city, state or federal official to allow local seniors to chew the fat. He estimates the credit will be $5,000 to $25,000, enough to throw weary business owners a bone. “The hope is to identify businesses that are already servicing local populations to help them sustain their business if they’re providing a convenient place for local seniors,” said Kim.
The idea pleases advocates eager to provide seniors with a comfortable place in their own neighborhood. Bobbie Sackman, director of public policy at the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York, calls the idea a “win-win,” provided that it’s fully paid-for. “Not only would it help seniors, it would include the business community,” said Sackman. “Senior centers have wanted for years to offer programs offsite but they’ve never had enough funds.”
