Brooklyn – Councilman Greenfield and Barry Spitzer, District Manager of Community Board 12, will be meeting with the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) regarding the sanitation tickets that have recently been given out to homeowners on Friday afternoons for putting out their garbage too early. For those who have garbage pickup on Saturdays, putting out garbage on Friday afternoon for the next day pickup can be a hassle, especially during the winter months when Shabbos starts very early.

City regulations stipulate that residents may place garbage receptacles out for collection on the sidewalk no earlier than 5:00 PM the day before their scheduled collection, and no earlier than 4:00 PM from October 1st to April 1st. The 4:00 PM time is problematic since during the short days of late fall and early winter Shabbos can begin as early 4 PM, leaving homeowners left risking a ticket by putting their garbage out early, or stuck holding their trash until the next collection day.

After intervention by Councilman Greenfield and Barry Spitzer, the Sanitation Department agreed to use discretion and not issue tickets for garbage that was put out after 3:00 PM. However, Greenfield and Community Board 12 are not satisfied with just one extra hour due to the fact that many residents go away for Shabbos and leave their homes two or three hours before Shabbos. Additionally, Erev Shabbos is a hectic time in a Jewish household with preparations for the Sabbath in full swing, asking for two or three extra hours to take care of the garbage is a reasonable request.

To that end, Greenfield and Community Board 12 will be meeting with high level officials in the Department to request that the Department use discretion three hours before Shabbos starts.

“Families have enough to contend with while preparing for Shabbos than to be concerned about what exact time the garbage goes out. The tickets that were issued to homeowners for putting their trash out too early are ‘gotcha’ tickets through and through. Borough Park residents deserve leniency on what time they put out their trash,” said Councilman David G. Greenfield.

“I view this as a religious observance issue and when a city rule creates a conflict, it is encumbered upon the city agency to do everything possible to resolve that. Giving Shabbos observant residents more time to put their garbage out is not too much to ask for. I thank Councilman Greenfield for joining me in this effort and I hope that the Department of Sanitation will do the right thing for our community,” said District Manager Barry Spitzer.

(YWN Desk – NYC)