Snow, rain and gloom of night might not slow Brownsville mailmen down — but gangbangers sure will.
Postmen are too scared to deliver letters and packages to one of Brooklyn’s most crime-ravaged neighborhoods, a US Postal Service worker told The Post yesterday.
“The neighborhood is bad,” the worker said outside the Brownsville Station Post Office on Bristol Street. “I wouldn’t want to go into those buildings.”
Snail mail that goes undelivered finds its way back to the post office, where it can stew for several days until a carrier decides to deliver it — or residents are forced to come pick it up.
Post photo composite
“Have you seen this neighborhood? It’s on the news every day,” the terrified employee said.
About 50 angry residents — organized by the neighborhood chapter of New York Communities for Change — gathered in front of the post office yesterday to protest the epidemic of late mail and parcels that never arrive.
Letter-starved residents acknowledged their nabe — rife with gang violence — is frightening but said that’s no excuse for them to miss out on their mail.
“The postal workers have a right to fear for their life,” said Quantanya White, 38, a home health-care worker. “It doesn’t give them the right not to deliver the mail. Just because this place is bad, you’re not going to deliver the mail?
“But I do understand why the mailmen feel fear. If I feel unsafe going into certain buildings, they must also.”
Most galling is that the situation contradicts the postal service’s unofficial motto, according to state Sen. Eric Adams — who said he would be ringing the postmaster to request an investigation.
“That is unbelievable. Government services can’t be stopped at the boundaries of high-crime areas,” he said. “They need to re-read that motto — through hail, sleet and snow.”
Adams, who represents Brownsville and is running for borough president, said he hasn’t heard anything about postal carriers being assaulted or robbed in his district but added that, if that’s the case, the police should start protecting them.
But fear isn’t the only factor — some couriers are just mailing it in, other residents said.
“We do pay taxes,” said Crystal Caesar, 30, a social-service worker. “They could make more of an effort to ring my bell when I have a package. It’s a headache to come to the post office.”
Other couriers just can’t hack it.
“Our carrier had a heart attack, so she can’t walk upstairs,” said Yolanda Matthews, 58. “Now we have a different person delivering every day, and it’s inconsistent. They don’t deliver mail until after 8, and if they can’t get in the building by buzzing someone, they don’t come in because they don’t have a key.”
She has missed letters from her lawyer and her doctor, as well as checks from the state.
“We’re getting bad service here because it’s Brownsville — people on Riverside Drive get their mail at 10 in the morning,” she said “Something’s got to change.”
In the Bay area there is Hunter's Point which is a real bad area and in nothing but projects. I have known guys who delivered there (Wards, Sears and UPS)in the late 80's and 90's. The secret is to make sure to deliver early in the morning as the gang bangers are sleeping after being up all night. That worked for the most part but there were still some places they refused to deliver to.
ReplyDeleteCurrently there are owner-operators who refuse some areas such as these now and with good reason. If the neighborhood does not like it then they have to act as a group and clean things up or go without. This is what happens when you allow animals to take over.
My guess is demographics.
Delete1. Section 8 housing, check.
2. Most children born into a home without a father, check.
3. More fatherless children resulting in higher welfare payments, check.
4. No new business opportunites due to the high crime rate, check.
5. Illegals running rampant selling illegal drugs, check.
6. A solid majority voting for liberals who claim to want to help the poor, while buying their votes with more government welfare, perpetuating the situation.
Check, check, and check.
dat be da hood.... fact bro ....
DeleteIf I worked as a postal worker in 'da hood, I'd wouldn't go on my route unless I was packing heat. My guess however is that the federal government won't allow that behavior, since they support victims over self reliance.
DeleteWhen seconds matter, the cops are minutes away.