Comments on: NYC Sues Hasidic Shopkeepers Over Dress Codes

By: John Hinshaw

John Hinshaw — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 13:10:48 +0000

Be careful shooting fish in a barrel, Mark. The hypocrisies of New York City are legion, and, as far as having more important things to worry about, city government is all about looking like you are doing something – there is very little thought to ought.

By: jason taylor

jason taylor — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:55:28 +0000

But their stores ARE their stores McDonald.

By: Randy McDonald

Randy McDonald — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:50:08 +0000

No, it is not your neighbourhood. It doesn’t constitute a sovereign entity, right?

By: Dov

Dov — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 23:28:41 +0000

Hasidim have the right to keep non-Jews out of their stores. Non-Jews do not share the same values of modesty; in fact, many do not have any modesty values at all. This is our neighborhood; please dress correctly or stay out.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:46:08 +0000

Well, I was going to comment that “low cut neckline” is gender-specific; but then I thought of certain chest-hair-baring hipster fashions, and okay, I think you could make a case that the dress code applies equally to both sexes.

Is this not just another skirmish in the Hasidic turf wars in NYC? I feel like I’ve read other stories about “modesty patrols” and so on.

By: David Nickol

David Nickol — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:57:54 +0000

Is the city claiming men and women have an equal right to go bare-chested in public? The conventions for dressing modestly are simply different for men and women. I suppose the signs could be rewritten to sound less “discriminatory,” but it seems to me they would then sound ridiculous.

I don’t think this is a matter of the city having more important problems to deal with. If this were real discrimination it would be worth pursuing. But I think it’s a stretch to call this gender discrimination.

By: Devinicus

Devinicus — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:17:28 +0000

Clearly what should be banned are so-called "human rights commissions". They are state-empowered organizations whose main social functions are to harass and torment cultural and political conservatives. Consider their ignominious track record in Canada, where every disgruntled crank can say "jump" and the relevant human rights commission forces some poor sap on the other end to respond "how high?". Or the New Mexico human right commission which first heard the case again the Christian photographer who refused to work a same-sex wedding. Or the District of Columbia Human Rights Act which was used to attempt to force Catholic University to end single-sex dormitories. Or ... well, just read this.