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Community Board 12 Meets With City Agencies, Elected Officials, Community Leaders and Community Organizations for Pesach Preparation

Community Board 12 Meets With City Agencies, Elected Officials, Community Leaders and Community Organizations for Pesach Preparation

System for Sreifas Chometz and Garbage Collection This Year

Boro Park, Brooklyn – On Friday, Community Board 12 hosted a meeting, with New York City’s Fire, Sanitation and Police Departments, along with community leaders, community organizations and elected officials in attendance. The meeting was held to review plans in anticipation of the upcoming Pesach Holiday. Communal procedures were decided upon to ensure that Pesach preparation and Pesach festivities will proceed in a safe manner.

The meeting follows an annual tradition, first instituted by Rabbi Edgar Gluck in 1966, of hosting a multi-agency conference to facilitate the coordination of Passover planning. The group discussed the need for additional city services as well as the need for the community’s cooperation to maximize efficiency of resources and ensure safety. The agenda this year focused on; sanitation services needed to accommodate the inevitable increase in trash before the holiday, maintaining a visible security presence throughout the holiday, and a strategy to lessen the inevitable frustration encountered in the pre-holiday traffic. The agenda also covered sanitation container locations, and most importantly, the protocols to follow to avoid any injuries resulting from Sreifas Chometz.

“I feel lucky that there are such incredible people working for City Government who work with us, like they do every year. Pesach requires a lot from them, and I am so thankful that they have once again come through for us. They will provide resources to keep us safe, and clean. I am also thankful that our amazing community organizations will support the efforts of the NYPD and the FDNY so they can focus on what they do best, keeping us safe. We are proud of the community- government relationships we have, in line with the city’s goal of communal self-determination. These meetings are exactly what mutually beneficial governance for the sake of serving the public is.” said Community Board 12 Chairman Yidel Perlstein. “Thank you to all the community leaders and city officials who participated,” added Perlstein.

“A huge debt of gratitude is owed to everyone involved in making this holiday stress free; the city agencies, community organizations, and elected officials who took time out of their demanding schedules to participate in this meeting. The working cooperation of all these participants behind the scenes is the reason why we are all able to focus solely on Yom Tov preparations. I especially would like to commend the DSNY, FDNY, and the NYPD whose efforts to accommodate our community reflect the ideals of public service. These agencies devote countless hours and resources towards this goal. A special thanks to our partners: Shomrim, Hatzolah, Chaveirim, Misaskim and other organizations who serve a vital role in keeping everyone safe,” said District Manager Barry Spitzer.

“New York City has never been a one-method-fits-all place. The cooperative spirit fostered by all these agencies is exactly what governing should look like. I am proud to be a part of a government that fosters such devotion to accommodating the religious needs of its citizens. Every single person who works on this endeavor deserves a personal thank you. The FDNY has an awesome track record of keeping all enthusiastic participants safe during Sreifas Chometz. The NYPD makes sure to have a visible presence throughout Yom Tov so we not only feel safe, but can also flag down officers if needed. DSNY always comes through for us during the Pesach season. They always make it work. I know these agencies will continue in their efforts this year as well” said Councilman Kalman Yeger. “I would be remiss if I didn’t thank District Manager Spitzer, Chairman Perlstein and all our community organizations for going beyond the call of duty in coordinating this delivery of vital services to relieve some of the burden of Yom Tov preparations.”

The FDNY delegation consisted of Brooklyn Borough Commander, Chief Joseph Ferrante; Division 11 Commander, Deputy Chief James McNally; Assistant Director of Community Affairs, Sandra Sanchez; and Captain Michael Doda of Ladder Company #148. Joining them from the Department of Sanitation was Assistant Chief James Miglino; Deputy Chief Jerry Cerrai, Assistant Chief Ricky Cyrus from Sanitation Enforcement and Superintendent David Diorio from BK12. Joining them from the New York Police Department’s Brooklyn South Community Affairs was Commanding Officer Lieutenant Ira Jablonsky and Officer Eric Miller. Representing the 66th Precinct was Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Jason Hagestad and Community Affairs Sergeant Ralph Postiglione. Also, in attendance were Councilman Kalman Yeger; Sharon Fuchs from Senator Simcha Felder’s office. Representing the organizations who lead the coordination and safety of the events was Marc Katz, President of the 66th Precinct Community Council & Shomrim Coordinator; Shomrim Coordinator Yiddy Rosman; Shomrim Coordinator Heshy Kahana; Shomrim Coordinator Motty Baruner as well as the Coordinator of Staten Island Shomrim Ari Weiss. Rabbi Edgar Gluck, Senior Community Liaison; Rabbi Bernard Freilich, Senior Community Liaison; Bernie Gips, Senior Coordinator of Hatzolah; Rabbi Jack Mayer, founder of Misaskim; Rabbi Chaim Fleischer, Coordinator of Chaveirim and Ari Fleischer, Coordinator of Chaveirim were also in attendance.

The procedures were worked on with the consideration that practices will revert to pre- pandemic levels. We ask you to follow this important information both to maintain a safe environment and as a cooperative endeavor in appreciation for all the extra services provided so we can celebrate properly.

Bread Burning Schedule: The fires will be done at the designated locations only. The sites were chosen carefully, and unsanctioned fires will not be tolerated. The fires will be completely fenced off by barriers. No one should go beyond the barriers. The perimeter will be strictly enforced by Shomrim and NYPD.

Bread burning will occur on Friday, April 15th. All bread burning must be completed by 11:37 am. For the safety of our community, the Fire Department will strictly enforce this 11:37 deadline.

Once the deadline for bread burning has passed, FDNY will put out the fires. DSNY will then collect and dispose of all that’s left over as well as clean the sites.

Please adhere to the following simple rules to ensure the safety of our loved ones during this holiday and make collections easier and faster:

Only Chometz Gamor should be burned, as required. Household trash that is not actual Chometz should be disposed of as regular trash. There is no chumra requiring the burning of cardboard boxes or any other potentially flammable non-Chometz items. In fact, it may even be contrary to the halachos requiring safety. Dumpsters are provided specifically for trash that should not be burned. We have seen people throw all types of garbage into the fire in previous years. This led to fires growing to unsafe heights. Additionally, please keep a close watch on any children you bring along. They are your responsibility.

DO NOT throw any flammable or combustible items into the fire, including paint thinners, aerosol cans, sprays, lighter fluid, any liquid that is used to ignite the fire or any other flammable liquid.

Do not throw bottles, both glass and plastic, into the fire. This is extremely dangerous. In the past there have been some serious accidents resulting from improper disposal of such items in the fire.

Do not throw Chometz enclosed in silver foil into the fire, it will not burn.

A complete list of approved fire sites is attached with this press release. The fire sites will be supervised by volunteers from Shomrim and Chaveirim; please follow their instructions.

Please be advised that the Police and Fire Departments will absolutely not allow any unsanctioned fires, neither on the streets nor in dumpsters. The Police and Fire Departments will be on the lookout for any of these fires and will extinguish them immediately. We are asking the community to please be considerate and take into account the hard work it takes to set this up and cooperate fully with this system.

Sanitation Pickup Schedule:

DSNY already began collecting all extra Pesach related garbage, including bulk. We ask that you are diligent in placing your garbage out as early as possible on your designated collection days so DSNY can collect it all over the next few days before Pesach. Please do not wait until the last minute to put out your extra garbage so as not to overload the trucks.

The Sanitation Department will collect all the trash in the district from midnight Erev Pesach in the following manner: All recycling will be collected Thursday night starting at 12:00 midnight till 8:00 Friday morning. Regular garbage will be collected starting 6:00 Friday morning throughout the day until the entire district has been serviced. We ask that you place all your trash out for collection on Thursday evening. Please do not wait until the last pre- Pesach collection so that all trash can be picked up.

At our request, DSNY has for the first time provided the community with a dedicated missed collection hotline to be used only on Friday, April 15th. The hotline number, 718-449-2671, will be active from Friday 6 am through the end of the day. Please do not call in missed collections until after 2 pm as DSNY will be continuously servicing the neighborhood and may not have gotten to your location yet.

As an added benefit, the Sanitation Department will be cleaning certain major commercial strips in the district using MLPs (Motor Litter Patrols) and heavy-duty blowers.

Please be advised that all bulk items and cardboard boxes should be tied up and placed out neatly. All mattresses and box springs must be entirely wrapped, preferably in a store-bought bed bug bag or in plastic. If a mattress or box spring is placed out without being wrapped.

The Department of Sanitation collects household appliances such as coffee machines and blenders, as well as large appliances like washers and refrigerators. If your appliance has CFC’s (Freon) you will need a DSNY appointment to first remove the CFC’s and then to remove the appliance. To make sure this is done by Pesach, schedule your appointment via 311 no later than April 6th.

Sanitation will provide dumpsters at designated sites for additional garbage drop-off. A list of these container locations and burn sites is being published along with this press release. It is illegal to place anything other than household trash in these containers. In previous years there has been commercial dumping, especially construction materials, at these sites. This year DSNY has increased enforcement resources to continually monitor sites. Illegal disposals will result in fines. It is not only illegal to dump commercial garbage, it is highly inconsiderate. Doing so leaves no room for household trash other residents are trying to dispose of.

DSNY has specifically requested that double parking should be avoided on Erev Pesach so they can get around to collect all of the garbage they need to get to. Double parking impedes the trucks movement. We ask all drivers to be considerate of the traffic flow and avoid double parking these last two weeks before Pesach. Whereas traffic is always heavy in our district, before Pesach with the increase of deliveries and shopping, it becomes exponentially more so. Please do not double park. There will be additional Traffic Control Agents out to help traffic move along.

Community Safety: As they do on every major holiday, the NYPD will be deploying additional resources to ensure the community’s safety. During Yom Tov, there will be round-the-clock police coverage on 53rd Street and 13th Avenue and on Avenue L and East 9th Street. Please feel free to approach these police officers with any issues. There will also be patrol cars driving around the district throughout Yom Tov and, of course, during the first two nights of Pesach as an increased security measure for those out late after the Sedarim.


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