Rats, Religious Rights, and Public Health

I was all set to agree with the sentiments expressed in a New York Post article describing a new rule in New York about garbage collection. Which at best seems to be unsympathetic to observant Jews.. 

It appears that the city of New York has a rat infestation problem. And that has prompted new trash collection guidelines to help reduce the number of rats prowling around the city. It is a rule that makes sense and is apparently helping.

The problem is how long trash cans and bags filled with among other things left over and discarded edibles languish in the streets. Which can be for hours before being finally picked up by sanitation workers. The longer the trash stays out, the more rats are attracted. 

The city had allowed its citizens to bring those containers out to the curb as early as 4 pm on the day before collection. But as New York Sanitation Department Deputy Commissioner for Public Affairs Joshua Goodman explained: 

 “The old 4 p.m. 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,”  

The city changed the set out times to no earlier than 6 pm or cans and 8 pm for bags. Anyone doing so now before that those respective times is fined between $50 and $300. Apparently that policy has helped reduce the population of rats in the city. 

So in essence it is a good policy. Except for one thing. If one is an observant Jew and the collection day is on Shabbos, then for about half the year the set-out time is on Friday evening after Shabbos begins. Making it a desecration of Shabbos - a Halacha that no observant Jew would violate.  

It appears that Shabbos is the day when garbage is collected in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights which is heavily populated by observant Jews.. 

Observant Jews are therefore being reduced to either violating Shabbos or a city ordinance that carries a a hefty fine. Every single week. The department of sanitation argues that since this is a public health issue, it should therefore override religious concerns.

As noted, I was all set to agree with Brooklyn State Sen. Simcha Felder who...

...called on the Department of Sanitation to reconsider its enforcement of stricter garbage set-out times in heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, particularly where residents are Sabbath observant

Even though the policy is well intended and seems to be working, it cannot come at he expense of violating the constitutional right to practice one’s religion freely. Accommodations must be made to serve the small segment of the public that is Jewish and observant. They should not be forced to violate their religious beliefs. The heavy fines are unfair. Not to mention the stigma that would attach to them by violating on a weekly basis - a city ordinance based on public safety needs. 

But then I read the following:

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. 

I don’t understand. This seems like an ideal solution where everybody wins. Why did the Crown Heights community leaders decline the offer? 

There was no reason given for why they rejected it. But I’d sure like to hear one. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. It’s one thing to fight city hall when your cause is just. But when there are alternate ways of solving a problem, that ought to be the path taken. Continuing to fight it is counterproductive at best. and -without any explanation - might even be a Chilul HaShem.