Brooklyn Post Offices: Endless Bummer?
Is every single post office in Brooklyn a nightmare? Seems like it. There’s consistent bitching (that we hear, anyway) about three in particular. Here’s the latest on the most-loathed po’s: Kensington: Councilmember Bill De Blasio continues to work toward building a new post office for the neighborhood, which gained Internet fame via a You Tube…
Is every single post office in Brooklyn a nightmare? Seems like it. There’s consistent bitching (that we hear, anyway) about three in particular. Here’s the latest on the most-loathed po’s:
Kensington: Councilmember Bill De Blasio continues to work toward building a new post office for the neighborhood, which gained Internet fame via a You Tube vid last year. “We have been working closely with the Brooklyn Postmaster, Community Board 12 and the community,” says De Blasio. “There are still complaints regarding postal service in 11218 but I have also heard some positive feedback.We would love to see a new post office in the neighborhood or a commercial postal unit in one of the local retail stores. This community is growing at a rapid pace and business owners and residents at the very least deserve a functioning postal facility.”
Park Slope, 9th Street: The Brooklynian folks have a thread devoted to this place’s suckitude. Comments range from this observation, “The line to pick up a package that you missed because they can’t ring the correct bell is miles long. Usually 50 people waiting in the pick up line every weekend. Then it takes an average of 5-15 minutes for them to locate the package at the post office. How hard is it to have two people or more working the pick up line on Saturday’s.” to this one, “What do you expect from people who smoke too much crack (as i learned when i went to a party held by people who worked for the Brooklyn Post Office)?”
Boerum Hill, Atlantic near 4th Ave.: This is another neighborhood where there’s noise about replacing the post office. GL reported the latest complaints about the facility yesterday, with one person saying they “had a horrendous, Third World experience at the Times Plaza” and another writing, “I have never had a package or letter that needed to be signed for delivered by them!”
So. Are there any halfway decent post offices in this borough?
A Drive to Replace the Post Office [Brownstoner]
Return to the Times Plaza Post Office: Not Fixed [Gowanus Lounge]
9th St Post Office [Brooklynian]
Oh, man… what a bunch of lightweights! Try dealing with the 11212 PO over in East Flatbush. I’d rather cut off my left arm and eat it than go into that place.
Actually, every postal worker I’ve ever encountered anywhere I have ever lived speaks English very well, 12:12. It’s a requirement to work in any government related office. You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. Not EVERYthing can be blamed on immigrants. I know that’s hard to swallow but you’re going to have to accept it. I’m not a USPS fan but let’s at least put the blame where the blame really lies.
Some guy wrote about privatizing the USPS in the National Review. Check it out:
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/ryan200503070740.asp
The post office sucks because you need to press 1 for english. What do you expect from people with a minimal command of the english language. Not sure about your mail, but mine is addressed in english. Now go vote for Obama and stop your complaints.
We live in Lefferts Manor and are serviced by the Crown Heights post office on Empire Blvd.
Awful. Huge lines all the time. The women at the counters are rude for no reason whatsoever. The package drop box for pre-paid labeled packages is tiny. So unlike the Manhattan post offices which have large package drop boxes, you have to stand in line 30 minutes just to drop off a package even if it has a pre-paid label on it. Explanation? There’s a sign on the teeny package drop slot saying it’s for security. Apparently the terrorists only want to bomb Crown Heights, not Manhattan. Go figure that logic.
However, we have the best delivery people either one of us have ever had anywhere we’ve lived. Intelligent, courteous; they make an effort to deliver packages to neighbors if recipients are not home.
By the way, you can request redelivery for another day including Saturday when you get one of those package slips in the mail. The request form is a bit hidden on the USPS website (of course) but click on “Receiving Mail” category on the main page, then on that page scroll down to “Redelivery Service”. Then fill out the form using the number under the bar code on your form. You also have to enter the date you received the notice. Then you pick the date for redelivery. It’s a lifesaver.
The PO closest tto PLG [on Empire Blvd. & Nostrand Ave. in Crown Heights] is possibly a little better than the one on 9th Street, but not much, although IMO it has improved, while 9th St. has deteriorated.
Whenever possible I use the small PO on PPW in WT which is pretty good. The branch on Nostrand Ave. a couple of blocks south of the Flatbush Junction is also quite good. However, the best PO I ever used in NYC was the small branch in the basement of Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens–it reminded me of a small town PO in Vermont, even after they removed the beautiful oak-grained woodwork [which was actually metal] and replaced it with Lexan crap. It was one of the few things that made working in Queens bearable.
the Sheepshead Bay branch usually isn’t too bad…
I think something that is not being remembered here is that the postal service is a national monopoly set up by the U.S. government. It is constitutionally mandated that the U.S. handle most of the internal mail in the U.S. (See Arcticle I, Section 8 but there is a carve out for express mail and packages of a certain size). To privatize it would essentially require an amendment to the constitution.
Nice to see “Bergenbabe” mention Stanley. We lived in the Times Plaza Station area for 18 years and the only good thing I can say about that station is “Stanley”. You got to know when he was on vacation – the mail either stopped or got totally screwed up. Now we are in the Empire Blvd. Station area (PLG) and that station is a horror. The longest lines at all times. If they only had a line for pink package slips it would speed up most peoples visit to the office. Or lines for money orders only – that’s what most people are going there for.