Westchester County Deputy Parks Commissioner Peter Tartaglia said Wednesday that the Playland amusement park’s staff undergoes sensitivity training at the beginning of each season to teach them how to deal with patrons of various backgrounds, including Muslims.
It includes online classes as well as in-person training that deals specifically with religious traditions and providing customer service to the disabled.
However, the park does not permit head gear of any types — neither hijabs nor baseball caps— on 16 of its 26 major rides. Such bans are also enforced on five of the park’s 21 Kiddyland rides.
The ban apparently sparked a melee Tuesday afternoon among some members of a Muslim group that had brought thousands of people to the park as part of a celebration of the end of Ramadan. Tartaglia said the infighting started when some members of the group were unhappy they had not been told of the rules in advance.
The incident resulted in 15 arrests and massive police response to the park.
Tartaglia said park staff are told to inform customers of the rules at certain rides and let the customer decide what to do.
“We would never tell anyone wearing religious head gear to take it off,” Tartaglia said. “We respect their religion.”
Wednesday, the park was back to normal as thousands came out for a pleasant summer day, including many Muslims and Orthodox Jews wearing clothing reflecting their cultural traditions.
On the Super Flight ride, which is one of three of the park’s roller coasters, two Jewish youths were asked by a security officer to remove their yarmulkes.
The boys put them in their pockets, and one also left his glasses in the grass before boarding the ride. Tartaglia said glasses have to be removed as well because they can become a projectile, as some rides move up to 40 mph.
“We don’t do this for any reason but their safety,” he said. “We want everyone to come here.”
Morima Jung of the Bronx had tried coming to Playland with her husband and children, a 6-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son, late Tuesday afternoon, but when they got there, they saw the swarm of police cars and emergency response vehicles.
“We just assumed there was a fight,” she said.
The family, which comes to Playland about once every summer, went home and came back on Wednesday. Despite hearing what happened Tuesday, Jung said they felt safe at the park.