Can I get a Big Mac and the key to the bathroom?

That's what three black men are claiming happened to them when they asked to use a bathroom at a McDonald's in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan.

Christopher White, Abdul Rasuul, and Leroy Johnson allege that they were told they had to buy food when they asked to use the restroom at a Third Avenue McDonald's.

Meanwhile, they claim, a white woman who did not buy anything was allowed to use the restroom. The men say they suffered "shock, pain, emotional, psychiatric, psychological and mental injuries" as a result of the alleged race-based slight.

McDonald's declined to comment, saying it hadn't seen the suit.

As a New Yorker, I can tell you that finding a decent restroom when the need arises can be difficult. Thank God I have a bladder of steel. My wife, however, is a different story. If we are out for more than a few hours, we usually have to run in to a store or restaurant.

Some establishments have "Customer Only" signs posted, but many will let you use the bathroom without a purchase if you look sane. The problem is that so many bathrooms are so gross that you end up not wanting to touch a thing inside the restroom.

But if McDonald's is deciding which customers to let use the restroom based on color or ethnicity, that's McRacist.Are Latinos neater in public restrooms than Whites? Do Asians always flush? Last I checked, bathroom etiquette had more to do with manners, and manners have nothing to do with race.

McDonald's didn't get to 999 zillion people served by doling out McRib sandwiches to only white customers. People of all races have increased their cholesterol by downing too many McNuggets, McFlurries and, uh, Mc "You fill in the blank."

If establishments are going to reserve their bathroom for customers only, they should stick to the rule and not deny people based on skin color. In New York, though, where a good bathroom is hard to come by, they should eliminate the customer-only rule and be good neighbors.

That said, I've often wondered how the bathrooms of people's homes look after using a public restroom. Sometimes, it looks like folks have urinated on the floor on purpose, decided that they don't have to flush the toilet after No. 2 or both.

If folks treated public restrooms like the ones at home, more establishments would be willing to open their bathroom doors.

But shutting those doors solely because of race is not good McMarketing. Maybe these three men should have went to Burger King and had it their way.