That bilingual requirement has spread through much of the private sector here in NJ; everything from restaurants/bars to supermarkets to realtors to telemarketers to bank tellers. Anything dealing with the public, since many Americans are leaving the state anyway, now requires Spanish or sometimes Portuguese (due to the Brazilian numbers); without that second language, don’t even bother applying. Surely not a good sign for the blacks in NJ, either.
Same here in L.A. I speak French, Italian and English yet they want Spanish. In BC, Canada where I’m from, even last Christmas, the ATM’s don’t even offer Spanish as an option yet here it’s becoming mandatory.