A man walks past school buses near the Yeshiva Kehilath Yakov School in the South Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, April 9, 2019. New York City has ordered all yeshivas in a heavily Orthodox Jewish section of Brooklyn to exclude from classes all students who aren’t vaccinated against measles, or face fines or possible closure. The order comes amid a recent outbreak of over 285 measles cases in Brooklyn and Queens, most of which have been concentrated in the Orthodox Jewish communities. Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

By Aiden Pink April 12, 2019

New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority is investigating a complaint from an Orthodox Jewish man who says he was discriminated against by a bus driver because of New York City’s measles epidemic, which is largely confined to the ultra-Orthodox community.

The man said he was waiting at a bus stop in Brooklyn when the bus driver refused to stop the bus for him. He ran after the bus, and the driver eventually let him in while allegedly covering her face and saying “go in, measles.”

The incident was reported by the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, which is working with the city to curb the measles outbreak by educating the community and encouraging vaccination.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Mayor Bill de Blasio weighed in on the incident. “Anti-Semitic discrimination has no place in our city,” he tweeted. “We’ve reached out to the MTA about this report and will make sure it is thoroughly investigated.”

The city has declared a public health emergency over the measles outbreak, which has seen at least 285 reported cases since October, nearly all among Haredi Jewish children.

Most rabbis and local newspapers have urged their constituents to vaccinate.

But misinformation about the alleged dangers of vaccines, the tacit endorsement of the anti-vaccination by some prominent rabbis, and lack of knowledge about the proper immunization schedule have all contributed to the outbreak’s growth, both in the city and in the heavily-Jewish suburbs of Rockland County.

Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor for the Forward. You can reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount