A fed-up neighbor is suing a New York City Burger King for $15 million, alleging that its owner is turning a blind eye to an "open air drug bazaar," according to reports.
The fast food joint is located just blocks from City Hall in Manhattan's Financial District.
Kevin Kaufman recently filed the eight-figure suit in Manhattan Supreme Court, according to the New York Post.
His suit claims up to 10 "professional" drug dealers are using the restaurant as a base of operations to sell drugs, and the owner won't take responsibility for the problem.
Kaufman has lived on the block for 20 years.
"We've reached out to every direction we can and the only ones that seem to be responsive and listening are the cops," he told the paper.
The lawsuit names the restaurant and Burger King's corporate office. It accuses them of violating New York's nuisance law and seeks $15 million, according to UPI.
"Fulton Street is now a neighborhood in crisis," Kaufman claimed in court papers, citing as evidence the "professional drug dealers who have long criminal records and are well known among local law enforcement."
Kaufman wants a court to order Burger King to "stop terrorizing his neighborhood and turning Fulton Street into an open-air drug bazaar."
The location's owner, Lalmir Sultanzada, told the Post that he's also suffering because of the drug dealers and their clientele, but that remedying the situation is ultimately "not my problem."
"It's not me. Go talk with the government, talk with the police department, talk with the mayor, talk with the governor," he said. "They have to find a solution for those bums, not me."
