A Burger King owner accused in a lawsuit of letting drug dealers overrun his Financial District restaurant claims he’s not to blame — the angry neighbor who sued him is.
Resident Kevin Kaufman accused the restaurant at 106 Fulton St. in March of letting eight to 10 “professional drug dealers” use the fast food joint as a “base of operation,” and turning it into “an open air drug bazaar.”
The Burger King refused to hire security, he said in his $15 million Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
The conflict — first exposed by The Post — even brought Mayor Adams to the block, where he broke bread with the unsavory crew inside the Burger King.
But the lawsuit is “an obvious attempt for a money grab,” Burger King franchisee Lalmir Sultanzada contended this month in a $30 million counter-claim.
Burger King’s responsibilities “are limited to providing restaurant services to patrons and [it has] no obligation whatsoever to provide law enforcement services and/or ensure the safety, welfare and quality of life of the neighborhood,” he said in court papers.
Instead, Kaufman, who is vice chairman of the Fulton Street Coalition, “is responsible to ensure the safety and quality of life of the neighborhood,” Sultanzada said in court papers, adding Kaufman “has allowed drug dealers to operate outside of Burger King before, during and after hours of operation . . . creating a clear and present danger to the staff and patrons of Burger King.”
“The allegation is absurd and ridiculous,” said Kaufman’s lawyer, Joel Farley, who noted the vagrants plaguing the Burger King appears to have moved to a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts.
A lawyer for the franchise owner didn’t return messages seeking comment.