Brooklyn Lap Pool Will Continue Gender Segregation, at Request of Orthodox Jews

By Kings County Politics News Service

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — Borough Park Assemblyman Dov Hikind demanded Thursday that a local, public swimming pool continue segregating by gender to comply with Orthodox Jewish customs.

And, despite some concern from the Human Rights Commission, the city relented.

The brouhaha erupted after Hikind received numerous complaints from Hasidic Jews living in Williamsburg that the Metropolitan Pool, one of NYC's oldest public pools, located at 261 Bedford Avenue — a ways north of the neighborhood's Orthodox Jewish area — would discontinue the separate swimming hours program.

The program, effective June 11, allows women to swim privately from 9:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The NYC Parks Department temporarily canceled the program after the city’s Human Rights Commission notified parks officials that the separate gender times at the pool bordered on a civil-rights violation regarding use of a public asset — a notice that infuriated Hikind.

“What happened to being culturally sensitive? I thought we were in the midst of a ‘Progressive Era,’ where we do everything we can to be more accepting of cultural differences,” said Hikind, noting that as a sign of modesty, many throughout the Jewish community abide by a restriction that men and women swim separately.

“In no way is this program for separate gender swimming meant to be discriminatory. Anyone, regardless of their race or religion, is more than welcome to take advantage of the facility’s services. We call upon the City and the Parks Department to reverse this decision and ensure the continuation of this program.”

Upon receiving the unwanted publicity concerning a key constituency of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Parks Department appeared to do an about-face on the plan, saying the summer schedule was posted in error.

“No rule change has taken place. Separate-gender swimming hours remain in effect at Metropolitan Pool,” said a Parks Department spokesperson.

A version of this article originally appeared on the Kings County Politics news site