Op-Ed: This Is Not a Snow Problem -This Is a Leadership Problem

by a long time CH resident 

Just last month, the Vaad HaKahal held a meeting full of speeches about responsibility, unity, and all the wonderful things being done for the shchunah. Fine words. Inspiring slogans. PowerPoint Judaism.

But today, the streets tell a different story.

Garbage is still not being picked up.
Bags are rotting on corners.
Sidewalks are blocked.
And 311 won’t even let residents file a complaint — hiding behind “snow operations” from half a month ago as an excuse.

So I ask plainly: Where is the Vaad HaKahal now?
Where are the elected officials we were told to vote for?
Where are the people who claimed to be our voice?

You may say: “This is a city issue. Call the mayor. Call DSNY.”
Yes, of course the city is responsible. But we did not vote for the sanitation commissioner. We did not vote for the mayor in this community forum. We voted for YOU.

You ran as our local representatives.
You won.
Now do your job.

Representation does not mean meetings and newsletters. It means pressure. It means calling City Hall every day. It means standing in front of cameras and saying: Our neighborhood is being ignored and it will not be tolerated.

Instead, what do we have? Silence.
And silence smells worse than the garbage.

And let’s be honest: this is not just about snow. Snow sitting for a month and killing parking is annoying, but that’s only half the issue. Garbage rotting in a Jewish neighborhood is something much deeper. It is a ביזיון — a disgrace.

How did we reach a point where families must drag their garbage to the corner and hire private trucks, as if we live in a third-world city instead of New York?  

We are coming now from the Siyum HaRambam. The Rambam teaches that cleanliness and health are part of serving Hashem. דרך בריאות הגוף is part of עבודת ה’. Sanitation is not politics — it is halacha.

Do you remember what happened in Mitzrayim with the Karaites? The Rambam writes that his first wife and daughter died during a plague because the Karaites refused to clean, saying: “If Hashem brings illness, we have no right to act. We shouldn’t go to doctors or practice sanitation.”

That was religious fatalism.
And the Rambam called it wrong.
Dangerously wrong.

We are not Karaites.
We are not a people who say, “Hashem will take care of it, so we don’t have to.”
We believe in השתדלות. We believe in responsibility. We believe in ניקיון — physical and spiritual.

Leaving garbage piled in the shchunah and shrugging is not faith.
It is negligence.
And pretending this is “not our issue” is cowardice.

If the Vaad HaKahal exists only for announcements and photo ops, then say so honestly. But if it exists to protect the dignity and wellbeing of the community, then now is the time to prove it.

We don’t need another meeting.
We don’t need another statement.
We need action.

Pick up the phone.
Demand emergency cleanup.
Escalate.
Publicize.
Pressure.

Because a community that tolerates filth on its streets will soon tolerate worse in its standards.

We are not asking for favors.
We are demanding what every neighborhood deserves: cleanliness, dignity, and respect.

So again, with pain and with urgency:
Where is the Vaad HaKahal?
Where are the officials we voted for?