New York

Christine Quinn calls for boycott of Greenwich Village McDonald’s, more security

A March 17 brawl outside the McDonald’s was captured on YouTube and widely circulated online.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn yesterday told New Yorkers to stay away from the Greenwich Village McDonald’s, encouraging a boycott until the chain amps up its security.

Quinn said she wants people to avoid the outpost at West Third Street and Sixth Avenue until McDonald’s management hires security guards to patrol both inside and outside the store. She suggested hiring off-duty NYPD officers, who can carry guns.

That fast-food chain location has been the setting of several recent crimes, from a gay man attacked outside the store last year to a store employee accused of fracturing a woman’s skull with a metal rod in October.

Brad Hoylman, chair of Community Board 2, said the neighborhood police precinct will meet with the community tomorrow about the issue after meeting with McDonald’s managers.

“It’s a magnet for bad behavior,” Hoylman said. “One neighbor this morning said he was reluctant to park his car in front of the McDonald’s — and then of course that night, he said he saw video of somebody getting his head pushed into somebody else’s car.”

He might have been referring to a March 17 fight that ended with half a dozen men hitting each other against several cars outside the restaurant, pushing, shoving and holding each other down on the sidewalk.

Another idea, Hoylman said, is asking the joint to cut back its 24-hour schedule.

McDonald’s confirmed store owner Carmen Paulino is meeting with the NYPD soon. In a statement, Paulino said the store added security last summer. “The safety of my employees and customers will always be a priority,” she said in a statement.

Quinn said that the store hired just one security person on Wednesdays through Saturdays, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and that the store needs more.

History of violence

The Village McDonald’s has been the site of several crimes during the last year.

1. On March 17, a St. Patrick’s Day brawl occurred right outside the restaurant, with men punching and choking each other against cars on the street.

2. In October, a cashier was caught on video beating two women with a rod, slamming it down behind the counter over and over. One of the women reportedly had a fractured skull and arm, but the cashier was cleared of charges because a grand jury found he was acting in self-defense.

3. A gay man was pummeled in front of the restaurant last March. Damian Furtch posted photos on Facebook of his swollen, purple eye and said he was attacked after someone shouted anti-gay slurs at him. A man  was arrested but not charged with a hate crime.


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