Yaakov Silberstein takes out the trash every Friday after a busy day of serving hot meals at this food pantry in Crown Heights.

“We have a lot to give out, which makes a lot of garbage afterwards," Silberstein, who runs the Emergency Food Program on Eastern Boulevard, said.

But after the sun goes down, the Jewish Sabbath begins and Silberstein can no longer carry his trash bags to the sidewalk.

Under Shabbat law, carrying objects from a private space to a public one is considered labor and, therefore, forbidden. But the Department of Sanitation abides by a different rule which requires residents to put their trash bags on the sidewalk after 8 p.m. or face a fine.

“I’d really like to feel more comfortable doing what we’re doing and trying to have an arrangement where we can put our garbage out earlier in the day on Friday. We don’t have to worry about whether we’re gonna get a ticket, not get a ticket," Silberstein said.

What You Need To Know

  • According to a new report by Columbia University and the philanthropic Robin Hood Foundation, 23% of city residents were unable to afford basic household necessities in 2022

  • Experts say increased poverty rates are largely due to the ending of government programs from the COVID-19 pandemic

  • The Robin Hood Foundation is calling on elected leaders to permanently expand the federal child tax credit program and New York's Empire State Child Tax Credit

Last year, the city changed the garbage set-out time for residential buildings from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. in an effort to combat the city’s worsening rat problem.

Orthodox Jewish New Yorkers and local elected leaders say the time change is discriminatory.

“This is a ticket that was issued 6:30 on Friday. It’s a ticket for $100," Zalman Friedman said.

Friedman received a fine for putting his trash out 30 minutes before sundown and says he plans on fighting it.

“I’m not the only one who got a $100 ticket. There were many tickets given out, and it’s just not correct, it’s not fair. I’m not only fighting for myself, but for the rule and all the other people who were ticketed unfairly," he said.

With Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur fast approaching, advocates say they would like to see trash regulations suspended for all religious observances.

“We can’t tell people in New York, ‘You can’t put out your trash because you observe a religious event.’ That’s not what this city is. We suspend parking for religious holidays," Councilman Kalman Yeger said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Sanitation wrote: "The Department has previously offered to change the collection day in this neighborhood from Saturday to another day of the week. While that offer was declined by community leaders, it remains on the table."