Chick-fil-A to open in Port Jefferson Station this fall
A Chick-fil-A fast food restaurant in Atlanta on Thursday, July 19, 2012. Credit: AP
More than a year after it was approved, Chick-fil-A is set to open its first Long Island location this fall, a company spokeswoman said.
The Atlanta-based fast-food restaurant will open on Route 347 in Port Jefferson Station, according to spokeswoman Anne Lerner, who added a former car dealership must be demolished first.
Lerner said the demolition work will begin this spring.
Brookhaven's Town board approved the proposed plan in December 2013 despite protests.
Chick-fil-A has faced heavy criticism in recent years for comments by company president Dan Cathy opposing same-sex marriage. His comments led to protests and boycotts of the Port Jefferson Station plans.
?I think it?s going to be something that many Long Islanders are going to feel shameful about having in their community,? David Kilmnick, chief executive of the Long Island LGBT Services Network, told Newsday in 2013. ? ... there's better chicken [at other restaurants] that embraces everybody."
The Port Jefferson Station location will be the first stand-alone Chick-fil-A in New York; the only other location in the state is at New York University in Manhattan.
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