Police arrest 15 at Playland in dispute
over Muslim headwear
Written by
Rebecca Baker and Jonathan Bandler
rebaker@lohud.com
8:42 PM, Aug. 30, 2011|
RYE — A melee broke out Tuesday
afternoon at Playland Amusement Park
when Muslim visitors became angry that the
park was enforcing its ban on headgear by
prohibiting the women from wearing their
traditional head coverings on some rides.
Police from at least nine agencies
converged on the park beginning at 3 p.m.
after county police sought assistance in
responding to the disturbance, which
involved 30 to 40 people.
Two rangers were injured while breaking
up a fight between visitors, and two visitors
were charged with felony assault, police
said. Another 13 people were arrested,
most charged with disorderly conduct.
Names were not disclosed, and all those
charged were released by Tuesday night.
One of the rangers suffered an injured
knee and the other an injured shoulder,
said Deputy Parks Commissioner Peter
Tartaglia.
The park was crowded with Muslims
celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr, one of Islam’s two
major holidays. Most were from community
groups in Westchester and New City as part
of a daylong event arranged by the Muslim
American Society of New York.
“It’s unfortunate because everybody just
wants to be home with their families today,”
said Zead Ramadan of the Council on
American Islamic Relations.
Parks officials “painstakingly” told the
organizer about the headgear ban, said
Tartaglia. But he said that the rules might
not have been communicated by the
organizer to some attendees.
Three accidents on Playland rides that
killed two children and a park worker
between 2004 and 2007 were unrelated
to clothing the victims were wearing. But
the headgear ban was among safety rules
that went into effect after those deaths.
“It’s a safety issue on rides. If it’s a scarf,
you could choke,” Tartaglia said.
Accounts of what happened varied, but
Advertisement everyone agreed the dispute began after
parkgoers were told the headgear ban
applied to women wearing traditional
Muslim head coverings, known as hijabs.
Tartaglia said once word of that got out
there were “a lot of unhappy people.”
Tartaglia said park officials were in the
process of arranging refunds when
members of the Muslim group got into a
scuffle with each other.
Ramadan said he could see both sides.
“The people feel like victims, and the
police feel like they were just doing their
jobs,” Ramadan said. “Personally I think
things got a little out of control on both
sides.”
Lola Ali, 16, of Astoria said she witnessed a
group of girls and women wearing hijabs
go to park security to confront them about
the headgear issue.
She said the women were upset and
yelling. She said the security officers
started pushing them away and the girls
stood their ground, at which point the
security officers grabbed them, pushed
them to the ground and handcuffed them.
Men within the park saw this and tried to
intervene, Ali said, and the situation went
downhill from there.
“They were beating down the girls, then
they started beating down the guys,” she
said of the security officers.
Earlier, a park cashier told a Journal News
reporter that a woman wearing a hijab
either pushed or hit a ride operator who
forbade her from going on the ride. She
said a police officer tried to restrain the
woman and the woman’s husband took
offense, at which point a multiple-person
fight broke out.
The park was never closed to attendees
but for a time new visitors were not being
allowed in. Crowds were being turned away
at Playland Parkway and Forest Avenue.
Officials said late in the afternoon that they
were slowly reopening the park to new
visitors and that the group’s religious
ceremony planned for 9 p.m. might still
occur.
The organizer had put together the
gathering with an offer of $20 ride-all-day
wristbands and $3 spectator wristbands. V
isitors had come from around the tri-state
area to take advantage of the offer.
Brooklyn resident Amr Khater, who had
come to the park about noon with his
family, said his family was told about the
hijab rule by park employees when they
arrived.
“Everybody got mad, everybody got upset,”
Advertisement he said. “It’s our . Why would you do this to
us?”
He said he had left the park and was not
being allowed to return, but his children
and wife were still inside.
Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of the holy month
of Ramadan. It is a three-day period
during which Muslims give to charity and
celebrate their completion of Ramadan’s
requirements with family and their
community.
At 4:30 p.m., more than an hour and a half
after the incident started, nearly three
dozen cruisers blocked Playland’s entrance
and a helicopter was flying overhead. A
reporter counted nearly 60 cruisers on the
scene from various agencies.
Tartaglia said the county believed a mass
response was required “as a safety
precaution.”
Playland’s policies, posted on its website,
include: “All items and clothing must be
appropriately secured while on a ride;
some smaller items can be stored/secured
in cargo pockets or waist pouches. Hats
must be secured, and jackets/sweaters
must be worn properly and not around the
waist while on a ride. Some rides do not
allow backpacks, purses or head gear of
any kind.”
Ali and Gina Shibah of Yonkers said the
scale of the police response was
unnecessary.
“Sixty vehicles, it’s wasting our taxpayer
dollars,” Ali Shibah said.
Sal Mohumed of Brooklyn said he hoped for
a refund for himself and his two cousins.
“I thought we would come and play in
Playland,” he said. “There’s no playing
here. Coney Island is better than this.”
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LMFAO! This place is now a ghetto thug savage magnet. A lot different from when I grew up. Now all the ghetto trash and their nasty kids stink up the joint.
I probably know some of these cops too. Have to call some friends and get the skinny on this.
