It shall be the duty of the boards of commissioners of police in every city, or if there be no board of police, then of the mayor of such city, to provide sufficient accommodations for women held under arrest to keep them separate and apart from the cells, corridors and apartments provided for males under arrest, and to so arrange each station house that no communication can be had between the men and women therein confined, except with the consent of the matrons and officers in charge of such station house.
New York Legal Code