Dear BoroPark24,

During Chol Hamoed, I noticed sanitation enforcement agents going around Boro Park issuing tickets. I watched as one agent gave out at least seven tickets one after another, and I couldn’t understand why this was necessary specifically during Chol Hamoed.

Chol Hamoed is obviously not a regular weekday in Boro Park. Many families are away for the entire Yom Tov or on trips, visiting relatives, or simply not following their regular workday schedules. People may not even be home to clean up outside their properties the way they normally would.

I approached the agent and asked him about it. I explained that many people were away and questioned why tickets were being issued under these circumstances. His response was essentially that he had already started issuing tickets and couldn’t stop.

I understand that sanitation rules exist for a reason, and nobody is asking for those rules to be ignored. But there should also be some common sense and consideration for the community. When so many residents are away for Chol Hamoed, is this really the appropriate time to go street by street issuing multiple sanitation tickets?

Watching one agent issue seven tickets in a relatively short period of time made it feel less like addressing an isolated sanitation problem and more like an opportunity to cash in as many properties as possible at once. Maybe that is simply how the enforcement schedule works, but during Chol Hamoed, it certainly came across differently.

Is this really the welcome people should be getting when they return from a trip, or simply return to their homes after spending the Yom Tov elsewhere?

Perhaps the Sanitation Department should consider giving residents some flexibility on days like Chol Hamoed instead of immediately penalizing families who may not even be home and may have no idea there is an issue.

— A Boro Park Resident