When curbing your trash interferes with your religion
Some Crown Heights residents say trash pickups are interfering with religious obligations.
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If you are a resident of New York City, you are probably familiar with the chore of dropping your trash bags on the curb.
Every resident has an allotted day and time to do so.
Most of the time, it is mindless. But what would happen if trash drop off were to interfere with your religious obligations?
Many residents in Crown Heights say that is exactly what they are dealing with.
Since last spring when the Department of Sanitation added stricter drop-off guidelines for trash, parts of Crown Heights now have to drop off trash at the curb between 8 p.m. and midnight, or between 6 p.m. and midnight if it is in a container. Half of the year, when the sun sets before 6 p.m., this policy interferes with Jewish people who observe Shabbat.
Mordechai is one of the men who is affected. He says the new times have become an issue for his community.
With the city's mission to mitigate the rat crisis, the Department of Sanitation told News 12 that New Yorkers, curbing their trash later at night, can help limit the amount of hours that black trash bags sit on the street during the day.
Community members say they think there is a better happy medium to be found.
"Garbage is garbage but on the other hand, you should respect the Jewish religion of the communities that they are picking up in," Mark Parton shares.
News 12 spoke to some community members who say they have incurred countless fines for putting the trash out too early - something many people do in order to avoid taking it out while observing Shabbat.
Joshua Goodman, a representative from sanitation, says they offered a change for collection day, though community leaders declined the offer.
News 12 asked for more specifics about what the proposed change would have entailed, but was left with no response.
News 12 also asked if the Department of Sanitation understands how the current schedule is impacting observant Jews in Brooklyn, and what other solutions might be out there to fix this dilemma, but did not hear back
