NY may close bus service that makes women sit in back

Source

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City authorities said they will shut down a city bus service run by Orthodox Jews if the group doesn't stop making women sit at the back of the bus. The Private Transportation Corp, which operates the city's public B110 bus under a franchise arrangement, has come under criticism following publicity about its practice of making women give up their seats in the front to promote Hasidic customs of gender separation.

This is just weird that this has been going on since 1972 and just now it's a problem. I think there would have been major issues had this been a company run by say .... Muslims who made women sit in the back of the bus long before now.

I am shocked that this kind of thing still goes on, and in New York, this is the year 2011 not 1911!

I'd like them to tell me to go sit in the back of the bus!

reply to post by WhoDat09


considering its a private service what right does the state have to stop it?
if its following custom and they are providing the service then it should be up to them shouldnt it? its not like people are forced to use it, they choose to use a service so they agree to its terms.
dont get me wrong im all for equality
but people have been doing this for ages and people have a tendancy to target the little problems inside the bigger picture.

reply to post by ShortMemory


They do run one of the public bus routes I guess subcontracted out so I think it must do with the "Public" route they run for the city needing to conform to the City rules...otherwise they can give up their hefty Sum the City pays them to offer that city route and someone else can get the contract.

reply to post by ldyserenity

fair enough i can understand then.
does anyone know the name of said bus company?

I'm not sure, I've been googling like a fool but I can't find the name of the company who runs the bus.

Source

While this might seem an impossible reality for the Big Apple in 2011, the bus follows traditional Hasidic Jewish sex restrictions and has operated in a predominantly Hasidic area since 1973. It does not run during Friday night and Saturday's Sabbath rest, and signs tell women to pay the driver but to then enter through the back door to sit behind male passengers. Read more: newsfeed.time.com...

It would be one thing if this were strictly a private bus operating for the Hasidic community. But that is not the case—while operated by a franchised owner, the bus has a public route, and the Department of Transportation says that the bus was designed for public use. On Wednesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg reiterated that the city does not permit such sex segregation. “Private people: you can have a private bus,” he said at a news conference. “Go rent a bus, and do what you want on it.” So far, the Hasidic community has yet to respond, but it looks like the words of one woman are being heard. Read more: newsfeed.time.com...

Source

Like it or not, wicked modern mores may be coming to a group of Orthodox Hasidic Jews who prefer women to ride in the back of public buses. Earlier this week, an article in the Columbia University-run publication New York World shed goyish light on Brooklyn's B110 bus line, which the DOT franchises to a private company, Private Transportation Corporation. It's a public bus, but most of the riders are Orthodox, and they insist that women sit in the back, just like Roslyn Parkstein. Well, yesterday the DOT fired off a sternly-worded letter to the company, and then Mayor Bloomberg dipped his oar in.