Orthodox Jews trash NYC Sanitation Department over garbage drop-off rules they say conflict with sabbath
Is nothing sacred?
Orthodox Jews who observe the sabbath are trashing the city Sanitation Department over its stricter evening curbside garbage drop-offs, saying they are getting slapped with fines for adhering to their religion.
In some heavily orthodox neighborhoods like Crown Heights, trash has to be brought to the curb on Friday for Saturday pickup — when residents are preparing to to observe sabbath.
“The city’s new regulations regarding garbage collection now directly infringe on our religious liberties and seem to overturn nearly 100 years of precedent,” fumed Crown Heights resident Kan Tzivah.
He noted that for about half the year, the sabbath starts before 6 p.m. — but the new city rules don’t allow residents to bring trash to the curb until later, when observant Jews are supposed to refrain from activities viewed as work.
“I even tried explaining this to a DSNY worker who was issuing tickets right before Shabbos on our block recently,” Tzivah said. “Unfortunately, he simply said that while he was sympathetic to our problem, he was following orders and couldn’t make exceptions.
“It feels as though, in NYC 2024, the concerns of the Jewish community no longer count.”
The city now requires property owners to put out bins the evening before pickup — after 6 p.m. if the receptacle has a secured lid, or between 8 p.m. and midnight for trash bags.
The times were upped from 4 p.m. in an effort to cut down on the time rats and rodents have easy access to food scraps, officials have said. Locals shared with The Post copies of summonses for bringing out their trash receptacles too early, with fines ranging from $50 to $300.
“I was surprised because in all my years living here in Crown Heights the DOS [Department of Sanitation] has been very considerate to our needs as religious Jews,” said Rabbi Motty Lipskier, a Crown Heights resident and educator who recently received a summons.
“I appreciate all those who are working on resolving this issue and I trust that the DOS will be understanding,” Lipskier said.
Brooklyn state Sen. Simcha Felder has urged sanitation officials to stop issuing summons ahead or during the sabbath.
“Sabbath observant residents with Saturday collection will need to put out their trash receptacles in advance of the Sabbath, which will be earlier than DSNY’s Trash Setout Times of 6:00pm and 8:00pm,” Felder said in a Sept. 18 letter to the Sanitation Department’s enforcement chief.
“By allowing this small window of time for Sabbath observant residents with Saturday collection, we can ensure that we do not cause mounds of stagnant garbage to pile up throughout the neighborhood,” Felder said.
“Due to religious observance, DSNY should refrain from issuing violations for putting outgarbage receptacles earlier on Friday evening, as this is the only time that these residents would be able to put them out before a Saturday trash collection,” the senator added.
A Sanitation Department rep defended the later timetable for putting out trash — and enforcing it with summonses.
“The old 4pm set-out time was among the earliest in the country, and it meant that black bags of trash sat on our curbs more than half the day,” Joshua Goodman, DSNY’s deputy commissioner for public affairs and customer experience.
“Changing this old status quo is getting results, with the largest year over year drop in rat sightings since 2010, but sustained progress depends on compliance with the rules.”
Goodman said the department has previously offered to change the collection day in Crown Heights from Saturday to another day of the week to work around the sabbath and resolve the dispute. But the offer, he said, was rejected.
“While that offer was declined by community leaders,” Goodman said, “it remains on the table.”
The fight to reduce the rat population has been a top priority of Mayor Eric Adams, who has been ticketed himself for vermin infestation on his own property in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
