Police are searching for a hangry cyclist who allegedly smashed up a drive-thru window after he was refused service for being on a bike.
The incident occurred on the evening of August 27th, after the suspect rode up to the Burger King at 149th Street and Brook Avenue in the Bronx, according to the NYPD.
Surveillance footage released this week shows the cyclist sliding open the drive-thru window, then gesturing at something on his phone. Moments later, he takes out what appears to be a chain lock and begins wailing on the window. No one was injured, and the cyclist pedaled off before police could arrive.
Reached by phone, an employee at the Mott Haven Burger King told us it's company policy not to serve people on bikes.
"We're not allowed to sell to them, because the cars and motorcycles are coming in," explained the employee, who declined to give her name. "Sometimes the customers drive up quickly, so we don't want them getting hurt." (McDonald's has a similar policy).
While the violent reaction here is obviously way over the line, the incident now has me thinking: why should fast food drive-thrus exclusively cater to motorists, anyway? In a city where the majority of residents don't own cars, shouldn't people on two wheels—or no wheels, even!—have the same rights to the Whopper window as everyone else?
Lawmakers in Portland say yes. Recently, the city passed legislation requiring fast food restaurants, as well as banks and pharmacies, to serve cyclists and pedestrians through a drive-thru window when the walk-in lobby is closed. Nearly a year in, the experiment seems to be largely successful.
We reached out to City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to ask if similar legislation might fit within his plans to "break the car culture." We'll update if we hear back.
