McDonald’s usual “we love to see you smile” slogan may be turned into a “we love to see you frown” campaign in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

The fast food chain is taking it’s the “choice is yours” dollar menu out of the kitchen and into its restrooms.

At the McDonald’s in the bustling Canal Street commercial area, visitors wanting to use the bathroom are being forced to buy a $1 certificate if they haven’t already spent at least that amount on food or drink.

If they aren’t prepared to pay up, then a security guard, employed just for this purpose, will block their way to the bathroom. The certificate can be redeemed for food if it is used the same day.

Denise Gatsche, from New Jersey, didn’t see much happiness through the Golden Arches when she tried to use the bathroom last weekend. After being stopped by the security guard and told to read a sign with the policy in English, Chinese and Spanish, she was forced to rush across the street to the neighboring Burger King, which has a more liberal toilet policy.

"They don't care whether people piss in their pants," Gatsche said bitterly.

Her fiancé, Christopher Colby, added, "I think it should be illegal for McDonald’s to charge people to use the restroom."

In Burger King, a sign on the door says that the restroom is for customers only, but nobody bothers those drifting in off the street with the sole purpose of relieving themselves.

"We put that sign there only to let people realize that we expect them to buy stuff," said a manager of the Canal Street Burger King, who wouldn’t disclose his name. "But we won't stop them. There are only two fast-food chains on Canal Street. This is a very busy street – people need the bathrooms."

The lack of public bathrooms in the Big Apple has long been a complaint of visitors and residents alike. According to a City Council survey of 2,000 New York City residents conducted in August 2001, about 59 percent had been bothered by the lack of restrooms in public places in the previous 12 months.

With precious few public toilets available, some travel guide books tell tourists to turn to the nearest McDonald’s and other fast-food chains.

The McDonald’s security guard-turned-toilet monitor, Rolando Reypolds, said he is in a very uncomfortable position. Until the Canal Street McDonald’s introduced its policy several months ago, his main job was to greet customers at the door.

"Before, when I opened the door for people, they said 'thank you' to me," Recpolds said. "Now they look down on me. Some people are understanding, but some argue with me. This is a hard job."

The Canal Street McDonald’s manager declined to comment. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the policy had been brought in by an individual franchise or if it was more widespread.

McDonald’s officials at the company’s regional office couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday. But the managers of other McDonald’s in New York expressed surprise.

At the Times Square McDonald’s, the manager said, "They do? My God, who's the manager?” He added, "We won't do it. It's not right.”

At a McDonald’s in Flushing, the Chinatown in Queens, the manager also expressed surprise at such a policy. "We consider McDonald’s a public place, and the restroom is for the public. We won't stop anybody from using it,” he said, while declining to give his name. "Sometimes I go out. I have

to use different McDonald’s bathrooms. If they charged me, I would be outraged."