(WatchDogReport.org) – Burger King is facing a $15 million lawsuit after allegations that one of its restaurants in New York City is being used as an “open-air drug bazaar.”
Kevin Kaufman, a neighbor of the restaurant, claimed that a group of eight to ten “professional” drug dealers have been using his local Burger King as an operations base to sell illegal drugs, according to the lawsuit filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court. Kaufman claimed that despite reaching out in all directions to address the issue, the only ones responding to the complaints were the police. He said the cops have been doing all they can to get rid of the dealers, only for the bail reform to ensure they are released and back to dealing within 24 hours.
In his lawsuit, Kaufman has pleaded with the court to force the location to cease “terrorizing” Fulton Street by turning it into an open-air drug market. Kaufman stressed serious concerns about the “drug bazaar” being filled with dangerous, unethical, and “outrageous” activity, claiming that the restaurant was not doing enough to stop drug dealers from operating on its premises. He complained that the drug dealing operations were attracting addicts, drunks, and “disturbed people” who had been terrorizing locals for several months.
The New York Police Department revealed that 143 calls relating to the restaurant had been placed and that two arrests had been made since January 1, 2023. In one incident, a group of eight men and one woman reportedly barricaded the restaurant’s doors and only allowed certain people in. The group then allegedly took money from people they handed drugs to. The same members of the group were spotted yelling amongst themselves and fighting outside the restaurant a couple of days later. Local resident Evan Gillman commented that the group was at the restaurant all day long and that people do not go in there to eat. Another resident claimed that the only people frequenting the restaurant were homeless people and drug dealers.
Kaufman commented on how quiet the neighborhood was when he first moved in, noting that locals now had to put up with “crazy people” screaming at the restaurant every night. He accused Burger King’s corporate office of violating New York’s private nuisance law, stressing that he wanted to leave on his own terms rather than be forced to move because of the activity at the restaurant.
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