A NYC McDonalds battles with seniors who sit and sit and sit.. (retire, states)
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Policies about food and drink in libraries are highly variable.
Given the limited choice of sitting in a library or McDonalds solely for socialization purposes, I would likely choose McDonalds.
McDonalds has longer hours.
I could observe employees and the ever changing patrons and cluck about them with my peers, all day long.
My dads got a bunch of morning coffee buddies that meet up at a local gas station (mom and pop operators from the far east) and sit in their tabled area and basically gossip lol.
They definitely buy stuff there and also don't sit there all day and the owners love them (and vice-versa).
My dads got a bunch of morning coffee buddies that meet up at a local gas station (mom and pop operators from the far east) and sit in their tabled area and basically gossip lol.
They definitely buy stuff there and also don't sit there all day and the owners love them (and vice-versa).
This is common where I live but Hardees not McDonalds. A bunch of retired men sit around and talk, drink coffee. They have nothing better to do. They also hang out at local diners.
I've never known any of them to sit there all day though, a hour or two maybe between rush times.
The Flushing McDonalds closed in October of last year unexpectedly with no notice to patrons. (One can only imagine what would have happened had there been notice.) A local politician acknowledged that the five year long struggle with the elderly Korean group probably had something to do with it.
The store's employees were reassigned to other McDonalds stores.
A Burger King nearby -- also populated by lingering Korean seniors -- went out of business shortly before the McDonalds store.
I remember this story. Thanks for the update. Yes this group would sit there all day and hog all the tables and booths. Nobody else could come in and sit down and eat breakfast or lunch. Working people or people with families stopped going there.
Most homeless shelters require guests to depart by 7:00 AM. Libraries in walkable communities throughout the US have found themselves in the daylight homeless shelter business, especially during winter.
Then there are the older adults who park themselves for the day to socialize.
Locals oftentimes resent their libraries being monopolized by homeless and/ or ethnic elderly and the increasingly common need for security. A percentage of the homeless and elderly demonstrate dementia/ mental illness.
Others view the situation as a demonstrated need for places designated for daylight sheltering, socialization and hot meals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathguy
All good points. Civic centers, libraries etc. are just what makes do when you don't have the funds to do more. Imagine how bad it is in places like CA, FL etc. where the weather allows for a more substantial homeless population.
This is happening out here more and more. Homeless taking over the libraries. They come in and charge their phones and take up all the comfy chairs or computer cubicles and never leave. One of our local libraries had to replace some furniture that was more regular material as the homeless ruined the chairs with their body odor and stains from accidents. Everything is plastic now.
The McDonald's closest to me has a sign explicitly stating you're only allowed to sit around for 30 minutes after your meal has been consumed. After that, they'll kick you out. I've seen it happen before.
This should be a company-wide rule. The whole franchise thing must be why there's such huge discrepancies in enforcement.
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