Officials, Activists Address the Shabbos Sanitation Conflict

Since the publishing of the sanitation saga for frum Yidden in New York City, and with the dedicated efforts of a Crown Heights resident, it has gained the attention of politicians who have rallied to have the timing changed back for erev Shabbos.

By Anash.org reporter

Following a first report on Anash.org about the sanitation issue for Shabbos observers across New York, the story was picked up by many Jewish and non-Jewish news outlets, raising attention on this important issue.

The crux of the issue is that the New York Department of Sanitation has changed the trash schedule to interfere with the arrival of Shabbos times.

The original rule in place, was that New York residents had from 4:00 pm on Friday – from October 1st until April 1st when Shabbos is early – to place trash bags outside for the Shabbos morning pickup. This worked out well for the Frum community, who was able to place their bags outside before Shabbos, even on the earliest Shabbos of the year when licht bentchen is around 4:14.

Now, the rule has changed to Friday at 8:00 pm, which is not possible for almost every Shabbos of the year in New York. Residents who have been placing bags out early, before Shabbos, were getting fined by the Sanitation Department.

Since the publishing of this story, and with the dedicated efforts of a Crown Heights resident, it has gained the attention of many local politicians. In one letter to NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Assemblyman Cymbrowitz Steven Cymbrowitz urged him not to implement the proposed rule, due to the difficult situation it places Shabbos observant Yidden in.

“While I applaud the goal of making our streets cleaner, the proposed new hours for when trash cans and bags may be placed curbside — 6 p.m. for receptacles and 8 p.m. for bags — will be problematic for Sabbath observant Jewish residents who have Saturday trash pickup or who are observing religious holidays throughout the year when doing work is prohibited. 

“I urge you to not implement these proposed new rules and to seek alternative solutions to
improving cleanliness on our city’s streets.”

Officials and activists have been working on this from every angle, trying to get the timing back to a later time that doesn’t discriminate against the tens of thousands of frum families in New York.