Fifteen visitors at Playland Park in Rye, N.Y., were arrested Tuesday afternoon following what park officials called a “misunderstanding” over a headwear policy.
The Muslim-American patrons arrived as part of a tour group, and women were wearing traditional hijabs when they entered Playland Park sometime after 4 p.m., according to officials.
The 3,000 visitors were celebrating the end of Ramadan and planned to spend the day at the park.
When the women tried to gain entry on some rides, they were denied based on the park’s policy of prohibiting headwear on rides — including hats, scarves and flowing material — for safety reasons.
“It’s my religion, it’s my modesty,” explained one of the women, Ola Salim, to NBC New York, afterward. Salim, who was not involved in the ensuing altercation, said, “Wearing a scarf is like wearing clothing to me, and to everybody else.”
But Westchester County deputy parks commissioner Peter Tartaglia said it was a safety issue, explaining, “If somebody wears some sort of scarf, it could be a strangling situation. If something goes on a track on a roller coaster, it could stop that ride and cause injury.”
The visitors were offered refunds at the front of the park, but some of the parkgoers started arguing with each other about the scarf issue. That’s when security back-up was called in, and 100 police officers ended up on the scene.
As police attempted to break up the frustrated crowd, a woman was slammed to the ground, her scarf ripped up by rangers, witnesses said, although Westchester County police chief John Hodges said he was “not aware of anything like that happening.”
Hodges said two park rangers were injured and were taken to a nearby hospital. The park was suspended for two hours between 4 and 6 p.m. during the incident.
Fifteen patrons in the group were arrested and charged, according to officials.
Officials said the headwear policy was explained to the tour operator, the Muslim American Society of New York, several times before the the trip.
“This misunderstanding was very unfortunate,” Peter Tartaglia, deputy parks commissioner, said in a release. “Our headgear policy is designed to protect the safety of patrons and safety is our first concern. This policy was repeatedly articulated to the tour operator, but unfortunately the message did not reach some of the members of his group.”
(Source: NBC New York)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
18 Responses
Sounds like they knew they were not going to be allowed on the rides (the park told them beforehand) and went anyway- knowing they would make a scene…
The YWN article suggest the issue involved full face veils whereas all the other accounts suggest in included any sort of scarf including those worn by most frum women, as well as even small hats such as yarmulkes. This picture featured to explain the article minimizes the significance of the policy by suggesting it wouldn’t impact on Jews.
Religious freedom does NOT mean that safety rules will be excused.
akuperma, the image that I got from the article was not a yarmulkes or a scarf that a women wears but that it is the hijab that hangs down (not nec covers their eyes though)
And yes, if a jewish women wears a scarf that is hanging down (not tied up all the way) then there def is a chance that they might be told to take it off or fix it.
It boggles the mind to read “be good’s” post. If this happened to a woman wearing a tichel he’d sing a different tune.
They should have worn a shaitel — and the park employees would never have known they were wearing something on their head! 😉
I’ll let my wife know that she can’t go on the rides there. (She is a headscarf-wearer.)
I agree with #5…..many frum women go to amusement parks knowing the rules ahead of time too.
YonasonW, when Air France instituted a policy to demand that both Jewish and Muslim women remove their headgear so that their security people can inspect their heads, after protest it was stopped. This is a totally different issue. For you to portray as a religious liberty issue is nonsense especially if Rye Playland is making Yankees fans to take off their baseball caps to enter certain rides. CAIR is getting involved, an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holyland case. No, YonasonW, this is typical Arab imperialism coupled with typical Arab deceit hiding the fact that they are demanding special treatment by portraying it as a religious liberty issue.
I would think that if you are so much a supporter of the police, you would be supporting their actions here. Just go to the New York Post website to see how the police behaved.
Do frum married woman have to take off their tichels?
Your sister – I don’t support law enforcement…I work for a law enforcement agency…and I think the head scarf issue is Gomer Pyle/F-Troop silliness.
Vistors to the most secure of prisons are not allowed to wear “head coverings” in secure areas – but even there exceptions are made for religious head coverings, not bulky enough to accept contraband and after a reasonable search…surely now a municipal amusement park can have procedures to protrct religious expression.
As a Yid I think we should have some self-interested empathy for this soret of thing.
YonasonW: Google some images of what a Hijab looks like. It is has much more fabric, is longer and is much more free-flowing than a tichel. I can see how that could get stuck in something and be a safety hazard.
A tichel is much shorter and is worn very close to the head. I doubt that a tichel would make a problem.
O, and I’m a ‘She’ so I wouldn’t be singing any tunes here 😉
Your Sister: I completely agree- well said.
#7 I learned that the hard way. I used to wear a tichel when flying to be comfortable, but after 9/11 the TSA told me I must remove my hat. When I told them I couldn’t for religious reasons, a female officer checked me in a separate room. Now I wear a Shaitel and no-one notices. Wonder what I could hide in my shaitel…
Nobody is allowed to wear loose, flailing clothing on the rides. If someone wanted to wear a Batman cape and put some religious significance to it, does that mean they can wear the cape while everyone is prohibited from the ride if they have loose clothing or hats? Just another example of the gaiva of the arab muslims. Mild, yet disgusting all the same.
There are times when frum women do not go on rides because they cannot conform to the rules of the ride. For example at a water park. There are times when skirt or long clothing are not permitted. We don’t make a big deal, we just look for a different ride.
We are different and that’s what makes us special. We are not looking to be like everybody else.
This is about safety. A lot of amusement parks have this rule. Almost all headgear can pose a risk if is a high speed ride. The force can rip a tied tichel off and even if something is soft it can injure someone if it or they are moving at a high speed. Even a kippa can cause a problem.If it flies off it can get stuck in some of the machinery and cause the ride to malfunction. A Muslim woman in Australia was strangled to death in a go-cart when her covering fell and got stuck in the wheel. The Muslim coverings are an even bigger issue than the Jewish ones because they are often longer,they hang loose, and are usually tied around the neck. Priorities people. We shouldn’t be willing to cause injury to ourselves or others so that we can go on a ride.
What danger is there to wearing hats on these rides; they don’t wrap around the neck?
What about the many of us who wear huge loose tzitzis begaddim on the outside of the shirt; this rule would apply to them too.
Lady be good..you have driven me to quote akuperma verbatim:
“The YWN article suggest the issue involved full face veils whereas all the other accounts suggest in included any sort of scarf including those worn by most frum women, as well as even small hats such as yarmulkes. This picture featured to explain the article minimizes the significance of the policy by suggesting it wouldn’t impact on Jews.”