She\u2019s an \u201cArch\u201d angel.<\/p>\n
Wild packs of rowdy teens have allegedly created so much havoc at a Queens McDonald\u2019s that they\u2019ve hired a \u201cMcBouncer\u201d to keep the kids at bay.<\/p>\n
Claudia Zanabria, a McDonald\u2019s crew member who survived stage 3 rectal cancer, says she was picked to police the teen terrors because she\u2019s the \u201ctoughest\u201d employee at the restaurant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis generation is really different. . . . they push me, they disrespect me,\u201d she told The Post.<\/p>\n
A Queens McDonald\u2019s has banned unaccompanied minors from entering the store after school. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n
The eatery on Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills has instituted a policy barring minors from eating inside their restaurant from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. \u2014 unless they\u2019re accompanied by an adult.<\/p>\n
Cops have been called to the restaurant 15 times so far this year for assault, disorderly conduct and other crimes, police records show. <\/p>\n
The most serious incident appeared to happen May 21, just before 3 p.m., when a 24-year-old man claimed he was slapped by a stranger and filed a police report, the NYPD said.<\/p>\n
Zanabria said that by the time police arrive at the restaurant, the rowdy teens have typically already fled, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.<\/p>\n
Zanabria, 45, said she started working at McDonald\u2019s at the height of the bedlam six months ago.<\/p>\n
The fast food restaurant has gone so far as to hire a \u201cMcBouncer\u201d to enforce its teen policy. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n
In one melee caught on video, two groups of teens descended on the joint from both entrances and brawled with each other \u2014 while customers grimaced in fear as fists flew.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were even disrespectful to the cops,\u201d she claimed. <\/p>\n
The restaurant is just a short walk from a school on Metropolitan Ave., which houses three different public schools that enroll 2,000 students, including Queens Metropolitan High School.<\/p>\n
Claudia Zanabria says the kids sometimes attack her. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n
Since the ban began five months ago, as many as two dozen teens regularly crowd outside the fast food joint as Zanabria polices the locked main entrance. Another entrance is barricaded with a trash can.<\/p>\n
She steps out and scrupulously checks the hangry teens\u2019 cell phones for their mobile orders, then serves them their meals outside.<\/p>\n
If a teen doesn\u2019t order online, they are allowed to come inside and do so at the counter one at a time \u2014 under strict surveillance from Zanabria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do everything to me, boys and girls, and try to get in. I don\u2019t hit back, but I call the police,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The teens were not happy about the rule. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n
The teens aren\u2019t lovin\u2019 it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s horrible, it\u2019s so unnecessary,\u201d one whined to The Post as he awaited a cheeseburger in the brisk 48-degree weather.<\/p>\n
Customers, meanwhile, cheered the changes. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be a victim, you don\u2019t know if they\u2019re going to throw something at you or punch you in the face or something,\u201d retired clerk Joseph D\u2019auria, 64, told The Post.<\/p>\n
The McDonald\u2019s barricades its side entrance. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n
This is not the city\u2019s only crime-ridden McDonald\u2019s to give teens the boot.<\/p>\n
A 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death<\/a> at a McDonald\u2019s in Sunnyside, Queens, on Valentine\u2019s Day, Feb. 14, 2025, after a brawl broke out amongst teenagers, according to the NYPD.<\/p>\n A Mickey D\u2019s on Nostrand and Flatbush avenues in Flatbush \u2014 an area known as \u201cthe junction\u201d \u2014 began carding customers at the door in February after alleged weed-puffing teens would wreak havoc inside the fast food joint, according to manager Amber Hussain. The chaos went on for a year before the eatery banned unaccompanied minors from entering the premises. <\/p>\n