Design-a-Turban Contest!
AS REPORTED ALL over the place, Kevin Harrington got his job back. The 53-year-old Harrington is a 20-year MTA train conductor and a 25-year Sikh (he converted from Christianity), and as such insists on wearing a turban. Citing the Transit Authority's dress code, Harrington's bosses removed him from public view on June 7 and sent him to Mosholu Yard in the Bronxwhere he was still in violation of the Transit Authority's dress code, just less visibly.
Well, bully for the Transit Authority for not (yet?) falling into the religious headdress rabbit hole that consumed the French earlier this year. What caught our attention was buried in the NY1 report:
But the TA is trying to accommodate them, and has even enlisted the Fashion Institute of Technology to design a religious headdress that also conforms to uniform.
Judith Schwantes, Assistant Director of College Relations for F.I.T., claims to know nothing about this relationship; MTA spokesperson Charles Seaton declined to comment.
While we wait for the F.I.T. students' solution to the clash between the need for headdress codes among TA workers and their right to religious freedom, Page Two is soliciting ideas from readers. The only guideline comes from spokesperson Seaton: Headgear must be a "TA-issued cap with 'MTA New York City Transit'" appearing on it.
So be it! Send ideas to pagetwo@nypress.com. The winning design will be printed in this space and forwarded to the MTA. The winner will receive a dinner for two at a decent restaurant somewhere in town.