Williamsburg Bus Still Segregating Riders by Sex
Via Karl Knoop
A privately operated Brooklyn bus line, threatened two years ago with losing its license for forcing women to sit in the back of the bus, is still segregating its riders by sex, according to a photograph obtained today by Brooklyn Magazine. The B110, which ferries riders between Williamsburg and Borough Park, two heavily Jewish communities, came under criticism in 2011 when it was revealed that women were being forced to sit in the back “to comply with the Hasidic prohibition on intermingling between members of opposite sexes,” the New York World reported.
The city’s department of transportation said such a policy would violate the bus’ franchise agreement, and the company, Private Transportation Corporation, promised to make sure its already-in-place non-discrimination policies would be enforced. (Such segregation had gone on for decades without a problem until, apparently, someone from outside the Hasidic community noticed.) Borough Park Assemblyman Dov Hikind spoke to the company and promised segregation would stop. “When you get on that bus, you will sit wherever you want just like any other public transportation,” he told the website. But good luck getting on, ladies!
A B110 bus, filled with Hasidic men, spotted today on the BQE today bore a sign in its driver’s window: MAN ONLY. I guess women can take the next one on this rainy day.
Follow Henry Stewart on Twitter @henrycstewart
