Drug-infested New York City Burger King faces $15 million lawsuit
Unsplash: Kseniia IlinykhA Burger King in New York City has been hit with a $15 million lawsuit over claims the restaurant has turned into an ‘open-air drug bazaar.’
A Burger King at 106 Fulton Street in New York City has been slapped with a $15 million lawsuit after an angry neighbor had enough of drug dealers and users running rampant.
69-year-old filmmaker Kevin Kaufman, whose credits include The Real Housewives of Orange County season 1, filed a lawsuit with the Manhattan Supreme Court after having lived 20 years on the block.
According to Kaufman, the owner of the Burger King in question, Lalmir Sultanzada, is at fault for turning “Fulton Street into an open-air drug bazaar” by failing to take responsibility for the happenings taking place at his restaurant.
The New York Post reported that the NYPD had received 143 calls related to the Burger King’s address since the start of 2023, though only two arrests were made.
Quality of life complaints remain a real concern to residents in all city neighborhoods,” a department spokesman said. “The NYPD deploys our officers where crime is reported in response to community complaints and will continue to address these conditions as the public demands and expects we should.”
However, Kaufman feels it should not be the police’s responsibility to clean up after Sultanzada; “He doesn’t take responsibility, he throws it on the lap of the cops instead of hiring security himself and policing his own store.”
“Fulton Street is now a neighborhood in crisis,” court papers obtained by the Post read. According to Kaufman, frequent visitors of the fast food chain include “professional drug dealers who have long criminal records and are well known among local law enforcement.”
Other neighbors have also spoken up about the issue, with one stating, “This is around the corner from the mayor, his office is right there, and it’s like ‘Dude, clean up your neighborhood.’”
Despite the lawsuit and backlash from locals, however, Sultanzada told the Post he isn’t to blame; “It’s not me. Go talk with the government, talk with the police department, talk with the mayor, talk with the governor. They have to find a solution for those bums, not me.”