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Women Riding Brooklyn's B110 Bus Told To Sit In The Back
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 19, 2011
Modified Oct 19, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 19, 2011
Modified Oct 19, 2011
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In many ways, the B110 bus that connects South Williamsburg and Borough Park seems like any other bus. It has a route number and blue bus stop signs like any other city bus, and it's open to the public. But the B110 is operated by a private company, Private Transportation Corporation, which pays the city for the right to provide a public service. And reporter Sasha Chavkin finds that on this bus—which caters to a predominately Orthodox Jewish ridership—special rules apply. Namely, women get the Rosa Parks treatment.
Chavkin recently asked an acquaintance to ride the B110 recently and found that female passengers are asked to sit in the back. His canary in the Hasidic coalmine encountered a bus full with "Orthodox Jews with full beards, sidecurls and long black coats, who told her that she was riding 'a private bus' and 'a Jewish bus.'" When she asked why she had to move, a man scolded her, explaining, "If God makes a rule, you don’t ask ‘Why make the rule?" Also, HaShem is everywhere, even on the B110, and are you going to make Him walk all the way to the back! (By the way, did you ever hear the one about the Goy's teeth?)
A female Post reporter had a similar experience when she sat in the front of the B110, where signs written in Hebrew and English also direct women to use the back door during busy times. DOT spokesman Seth Solomnow tells us, "This bus route is operated pursuant to a franchise which was publicly and competitively solicited. There is no cost to the city for the maintenance or operation of this unsubsidized service, operated by Private Transportation, which is available for public use.
"The franchisee is required to comply with all applicable laws and is prohibited from discriminating in the provision of the bus service on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, age, handicap, marital status, or real or perceived sexual orientation. No exception from compliance with these requirements has been granted in this case." Below, you can see the letter the DOT has fired off to Private Transportation about the matter.
G-ddamn, first the city makes the Hasidim take down their street signs ordering "precious Jewish daughters" to make room for men on the sidewalk, now this. What's next, they're not allowed to put up signs warning everyone that gay marriage leads to pedophilia?
Tagged
Hasidic
jewish
orthodox jews
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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