It’s a big clucking deal.
We’ve known since 2014 that Chick-fil-A planned to open restaurants in NYC but the chain announced Monday that the Southern fried chicken restaurant will officially open on October 3, 2015.
In March, Crains New York released a rendering of NYC’s Chick-fil-A, which will be located at 1000 Sixth Ave. at the corner of 37th Street.
Just like the 1800+ other franchises around the country, this new outpost will also be closed on Sundays.
“We are beyond excited about opening our first franchise restaurant in New York. Until now, the only place you could enjoy our food was on the campus of NYU,” Carrie Kurlander, the vice president of public relations for Chick-fil-A told us in an email earlier this year.
“We are ready to fire up the grills and serve our chicken, hot waffle fries and fresh lemonade to the Herald Square neighborhood. This location will allow us to serve fans who have been asking us to come to New York and to earn the opportunity to serve new customers, as it will be the first of many locations in the city.”
For now, those who crave Chick-fil-A’s notorious chicken sandwiches can visit the chain’s college cafeteria outposts at NYU (5 University Pl. #11) and St. John’s University (8000 Utopia Pkwy., Jamaica), which offer limited menu selections when school is in session.
How will a fast-food restaurant widely known for its conservative Christian and anti-gay politics fare in New York City?
In July 2012, city council member and former mayoral candidate Christine Quinn wrote a letter to NYU president John Sexton and started a Change.org petition to demand that Chick-fil-A change its homophobic stance or not conduct business in New York City, “a place that celebrates diversity.”
Also in 2012, mayors of major metropolitan cities including Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Washington D.C. voiced their disapproval of Chick-fil-A’s opening in their cities.
Will tolerance beat out taste before the chain spreads its wings in the Big Apple?
There’s no shortage of excellent fried chicken in NYC, so we’ll see who chows down at Chick-fil-A.
