Maybe a McDonald's in Queens is, in fact, a Third Place

Fighting a McDonald's in Queens for the Right to Sit. And Sit. And Sit

"It's a McDonald," said Martha Anderson, the general manager, "not a senior center."

Uh...maybe a McDonalds is indeed a third place and can/does act as a senior center. And it should be and McDonald's might want acknowledge it and figure out how to integrate the third place into its business model.

See Ray Oldenburg's The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community. It is on Brent Toderian's  The 100 "Best" Books on City-Making Ever Written? (but not high enough on the list, IMHO. Olderburg's concepts are one of the most original and core obervations in all of urban planning. The "third place" is and should be at the center of all walkable urbanism.)