Dumbo NYC

Notes from the DUMBO, Brooklyn NY neighborhood


Dumbo, Are You Happy With Your Mail Delivery?

April 2nd, 2007


 Cadman Plaza post office (Photo courtesy of Barrybar).

I know complaints about Brooklyn Post Offices have been circulating around the internets, but I wanted to get an idea of people’s opinions of their service in Dumbo/Vinegar Hill. Our ZIP code is 11201 (Cadman Plaza East). I’ve received several pieces of mail that’s not mine, but thankfully Dumbo isn’t that big an area, and I deliver them to the correct owner. But I’m still waiting for mail that I know has been mailed out to me. Some of them are tax forms that I have to re-request. I’m sure there are many hard-working post office staff, but I have to echo The Consumerist, Why Is It So %#$%@-ing Impossible To Get Your Mail Delivered in Brooklyn? Do you find mail missing or packages not delivered to you?

{Boerum Hill Thankful Pottery Barn Uses UPS, Gowanus Lounge}
{So, (Almost) Everyone in Brooklyn Says Their Mail Sucks, Gowanus Lounge}
{Why Is It So %#$%@-ing Impossible To Get Your Mail Delivered in Brooklyn?, Consumerist}
{Post Office Meltdown: Customer Flips Out On Video At Brooklyn Post Office, Consumerist}

Filed in Cadman Plaza West at 12:00 am
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  • debbie callon
    when will they ever remove the scaffolding???it's been up for five years and we are still counting......
  • Megan
    So true. 11201.

    Our normal mail delivery guy is great. But the USPS guy who delivers express mail and large packages is a completely incompetent. Doesn't deliver, ect, ect.

    He actually will call the number, your phone number listed on the package and if you don't answer he won't even get out of the vehicle to ring the buzzer. Insane. It is just this one guy.

    Our normal carrier is a nice enough human. It's just that one weirdo. Who calls before they deliver the package? And is he calling from his personal cell phone. "Postal service... I'll be there in 2 minutes..."

    But if you are on the other line he doesn't even get out of the truck to leave the notice.
  • complainer
    interesting.
    we've had problems in our dumbo building for years. every so often we get a letter from the post office stating that they are not required to deliver unless there is a clear sign posted with names & unit #s.
    lately though - the mail carrier has been delivering - though haphazardly. exchanging misdelivered mail with neighbors in the halls has become common. it beats the days where he just chucks the mail on the floor near the mailboxes.
    i finally called the national number to file a complaint againt the carrier - even though i fear postal retribution. the representative from cadman plaza called me back. despite my thorough description of the issues, she kept insisting she couldn't understand what i was complaining about. awesome.
  • amanda
    We are constantly getting mail for people in other buildings with completely different street names and numbers, who simply have the same APARTMENT NUMBER as us. WTF? Aren't they sorting by street name, address, THEN apartment number? Apparently not in Brooklyn, because this happens at least once a month.

    Other residents in 70 Washington (my bldg) are saying they have had numerous problems getting mail. Someone made a call to the Cadman Plaza P.O. (and actually got someone on the phone) and found out the real story: the guy who is supposed to deliver to our route is an old mail carrier set to retire next year, and he flat out refuses to do our building and some of the other bigger residential buildings in DUMBO (I'm guessing 1 Main and Sweeney). So, as a result, we get a "freelance" carrier, and a different one every single day. I'm guessing these freelancers don't really give a s#!t, but then neither do the folks at the post office care that we're NOT GETTING OUR MAIL. My experience hasn't been as bad as some others', but I am constantly having to report lost discs to Netflix etc.
  • Brian
    I live in 11201 at xyz Atlantic Avenue. A few months ago the carrier dropped off a package at my building for xyz Pacific Avenue. Right address, just a block and an ocean away. What I liked about that error was that it was neither completely random, nor was there any real logic behind it. I mean, Atlantic and Pacific are both named after oceans, after all, but, otherwise, how do you confuse the two?

    Such a mistake requires a high level of half-assedness.
  • cat
    Oh yeah, i hear this. I live in 11201 and have had several pieces of mail returned to the sender, for the reason that no such address exists. I live in the Cobble Hill Towers, which have been around since the 19th century. My boyfriend seems to receive his mail okay, but I seem to have a chronic problem, especially with Netflixes. I called to find out why my mail was getting returned, and the lady said that my carrier was out but the other carriers agreed there was "no such number." Am i living in the twilight zone or what?? Still trying to get it sorted out, of course. Incredibly frustrating.
  • Logan
    It sucks
  • J
    We are getting 1 to 2 pieces of mail a week that don't belong to us. And judging from the names on the envelope, it is important mail. The worst part is that this mis-directed mail should have gone to neighborhoods on the other side of Brooklyn. Different zip code, different street name, different last name. Its not a simple mistake of close spelling street names. The only thing in common is that all the mail is going to Brooklyn. This is going on because someone at the post-office just does not give a s**t.
    The best was just last week when I spotted my neighbors mail lying in the gutter on the street. Probably fell out of the postal workers bag.
    I agree that mail service for 11201 is the worst.
  • em
    I have to agree that the service at the post office in Brooklyn is abismal. they are usually rude and indifferent and generally not particularly custom friendly (talking about the folks that service you at the station). I like most of the delivery folks. My regular guys are pretty descent folks who, once they get to know you, will really go the extra mile. Fill-ins for vacations are another story. they tend not to really care how or what they just throw your mail or stuff it in the box and it usually gets damaged. Try complaining to some of the managers (ie: Joe Soto in Park Slope) He could care less, is mean, and usually doesn't respond. His folks are just as bad.
  • Brian
    I am no casual post office basher! Rounding out my lifetime of experiences with the P.O., I'd say I have a postive relationship with the institution. But then there was Brooklyn. There are the capable professionals at Cadman Plaza, yes, but I have waited six weeks for legal documents that were mailed from 23rd Street. I have waited just as long for books ordered from sellers on Amazon (twice). I have been given a stack of other people's mail. I have waited in long lines while the staff drift as if in slow motion behind thick glass partitions, or disappear all together, regularly. The air of indifference to the customer is overwhelming. I make a conscious effort to keep my cool when I go in there but I remember watching one guy crack and say to the person behind the window, "Every time when I come here, I walk in feeling like a human being, and when I leave, I feel like an animal." Amen, brother.
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