Bus Line In New York Hasidic Neighborhoods Segregates Sexes

The New York World reported earlier this week on an unusual arrangement for bus service in Brooklyn, New York on a line that runs between the Hasidic Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Borough Park.  A private company pays the city to allow it to provide public bus service on the route, and the company in turn collects fares from passengers. The buses-- at the behest of a board of consulting rabbis-- require men to sit an the front and women to sit in the back in order to prevent physical contact between members of the opposite sex.  The city Department of Transportation however says that the bus line-- as a public service-- is subject to anti-discrimination laws, and it is asking the company about the situation. [Thanks to Jean Dudley via Religionlaw for the lead.]