A McDonald's In Queens Is At War With A Group Of Elderly Men Who Refuse To Leave

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A McDonald's in Queens is warring with a group of Korean senior citizens who hang out and gossip in the restaurant all day long, The New York Times reports.

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The group usually arrives at the restaurant before 5 a.m. and sticks around until after dark. Store management complains that they are taking tables from paying customers without even ordering so much as a Big Mac.

"It's a McDonald's... not a senior center," Martha Anderson, the general manager, told The Times.

She said she has called the police on the group several times, and has had customers ask for refunds because there's no place for them to sit, she said.

One of the seniors, Man Hyung Lee, 77, told The Times he was ordered out by a police officer earlier this month.

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"So I left," he said. "Then I walked around the block and came right back again."

One regular said many in the group dislike McDonald's food. But they aren't there to eat.

"They come every single day to gossip, chat about politics back home and in their adopted land," the Times' Sarah Maslin Nir and Jiha Ham wrote. In many cases, they just show up for the company.

The group has been showing up every day for months, and McDonald's management is losing patience. There have been four 911 calls requesting their removal since November and officers often stop in while on patrol, according to the article.

McDonald's has been unsuccessful in the past, however, when trying to ban a specific group from its restaurants. A London McDonald's recently tried to ban teens from entering its doors after 7 p.m. and was forced to apologize.

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