Gothamist: Kensington Post Office - the Worst Post Office in NYC?

bilowj

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:34:52 -0500

Peter Stuyvesant station in the East Village is the worst. I've resorted to getting packaes shipped to a friends house the line is so long and then when you get to the window they can't find your package. Plus every day I get half my mail and about four pieces of other folks in my mailbox.

thefacts

Sat, 03 May 2008 18:40:50 -0500

What?!! Why has no one mentioned the Prince St PO in SoHo? They actually asked the Landmarks Commission for permission to install bullet-proof exterior windows. Not sure whether it was to protect the public from crazed PO workers, or to prevent the PO workers from angry customers shooting inside!

rdc

Sat, 03 May 2008 12:11:07 -0500

I'm psyched that a government that can't handle running a postal service is about to get into the business of health insurance. Good times.

thecustomerisright

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:04:23 -0500

I have had some serious issues with this post office as well, as has everyone else. This is really an awful place. I generated a Wiki about how this is the worst post office in the world (seriously, good "worst post office" and it's #1). Please if you have pictures or video from youtube or stories or anything, add to the site about The Kensington post office at 11218 being the worst in the world

guest

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:22:38 -0500

AHA! The BEST POST OFFICES are ALSO A TIE! The Farley (Main Post Office), open 24/7, with professional, efficient, and sometimes actually friendly people who do not mess with your head and get you what you need. The one behind Grand Central, where they sometimes have expediters assisting people in line with filling out forms, getting information, supplies, etc. The one on 3rd Ave and about 50th(?) Best self service PO in the City, hands down. All the machines work and are accurate. Staff a little more curt than the 2 named above, but they are professional and do their jobs right.

guest

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:13:55 -0500

IT'S A TIE!!! KENSINGTON AND VAN BRUNT! Kensington can completely evade/ignore the government and be total A-holes to their customers. Van Brunt can completely evade/ignore the POSTAL INSPECTOR and be total A-holes to their customers.

guest

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:49:01 -0500

THE POSTOFFICE IN THE BRONX, PARKWAY STATION, WHICH IS LOCATED ON PELHAM PARKWAY & WHITEPLAINS ROAD SUUUUUCCCCKKKKK!!! I CAN'T STAND IT WHEN MY BOSS SENDS ME TO GET STAMPS, LIKE 4 WINDOWS AND ONLY 1 OR 2 PEOPLE AT A TIME, AND SHE'S SLOOWWW AS MOLASSESS. MAYBE SOMEONE WOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, IN FACT I'M CALLING 311 RIGHT AFTER I POST THIS. THANKS FOR LETTING ME RANT.

KC

Wed, 30 May 2007 11:21:31 -0500

Oh come on. There are very few post offices that offer good service anymore however the real issue is that this guy is a raving lunatic. I would be surprised if the cops didn't remove him from the premises and bring him to a mental hospital for observation. In this day and age where people go around shooting for no reason, I think I'm more concerned about running into this guy than worrying about waiting on long lines at the post office.

annulla

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:34:57 -0500

Yes, the Kensington Post Office is absolutely dreadful. But ... are they worse than Cadman Plaza?

Judi

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:01:36 -0500

Does anyone really believe that the Clerks want to work alone at a five-station Post Office? How would you like the long line of people staring at you while you work alone... We have been trying to get the public to complain about the staffing for years. Also, each time one of you takes the extra time to dig for the penny, 65 cents, etc., you are holding up the line, as well. We have plenty of change, please either have your money ready or get rid of your change somewhere else.

KT

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 01:02:37 -0500

I don't have experience with all the other POs in NYC, but I have to say that the worst I know of is the Pratt PO on Myrtle, 11205. I've only been *in* it a few times, and it had the obligatory long, slow line and bitchy counter "help". I don't care how rude your customers are (and I saw none that were), they are the *customers*- you are there for their sake, not the other way around. Honestly, most PO workers that I've encountered in Brooklyn make the cashiers at the West 4th Street McDonalds look competent. But that's not what's so bad about them. It's the carrier and package service that takes the cake. Last year, my building didn't receive ANY mail for a month- no notes, nothing. They tried to tell us we just hadn't received any mail- really, then what about my NetFlix subscription, through which I receive at least 3 movies per week?? And this fall, my father sent a *Priority Mail* package to me for my birthday. It was returned to him a month later, with no delivery attempt ever made or note left. And we found out that once, one of the package delivery drivers loaded his truck and went on vacation... WITHOUT HAVING DELIVERED THE PACKAGES! I get packages delivered anywhere from 1-10 times per month, and I always opt for Fed-Ex (bad experiences with UPS too- dont' get me started!) when I can. The best I can expect from our PO is a note, NEVER a delivery attempt (I'm always home to hear them, and my buzzer can be heard by the whole floor), even on 2nd Day packages. Supposedly our councilperson is looking into it. We shall see. So far so bad. Btw, USPS is a "semi-governmental agency", according to About . com (If it were federal, would they still allow pictures of the Pope on their wall? (Greenpoint PO, 1995)) Most of the employees aren't full timers anymore, from what I've read and heard. Which is part of the problem. I don't believe they are considered federal employees, either, although I haven't quite figured out what they *are* called. Maybe these people can best deal with the ubiquitous problems our City POs have been dishing out: www.uspsoig.gov I'll be contacting them. One of these days.

Sarah

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:04:06 -0500

Astoria 43rd Street and Broadway is the worst ever!

stephanie

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 00:55:47 -0500

my best post-office experience was always at the 82nd st. plantetarium station, where the line was never too long, the people were polite and courteous, and the postal workers even smiled! even during the holidays, everyone seemed to keep their cool. the inwood station at vermilya suffers from long lines and bad timing (closing at 5 really isn't helpful) but otherwise, they are pretty awesome. they redelivered packages for me, our mail is always there (and our mail carrier is totally awesome and will leave packages that don't fit with approved neighbors and/or the butcher shop) and talks to you and stuff. but i want to move back to the 10024 area sooo badly. still. who knew inwood would be so cool?

ab

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:02:35 -0500

contratry to popular belief, the customer is NOT always right. The USPS is govt, not fast food or retail.

bladefas

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:50:46 -0500

First off I am a Letter Carrier with the USPS. I can't tell if the window clerk said "who the hell are you" first....to me it sounds as if the window clerk was trying to be civil, but the customer was not. His comments are unacceptable, and creates a distrubance (not allowed on Postal Property). The manager should have been summoned immediately to quieten the situation by either asking the customer into his office or outside. Postal employees should never engage in arguing with obviously irate customers. The window clerks continuing comments were also uncalled for.

Still Not Amused

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:43:09 -0500

Wow, What a story #54 . In reading your comment I was compelled to turn down the lights, Curl-up on the couch with a cup of tea to read your post . I mean that's the way it reads to me ! Like a well orchestrated story with plots, Plot twists, Drama, and action ! Lol, Seriously though that sounds about like something that would happen in the post office in New York .

11222_res

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:01:49 -0500

Best post office in the city is on 60th St. between broadway and columbus. I used it when I went to college at Fordham @ Lincoln Center (and that was years ago). I was in that part of town recently and remembered the p.o. Amazingly, it was still there, and even more amazingly, the service was still stellar. 14th st. between 1st and A (10009 p.o.) was horrible. I had a p.o. box there and I had to let it go because it was untenable. And there were people there who tried, hard, to make it better. But they wanted to show that the office was unnecessary so they kept cutting back on services. Greenpoint is horrific. Nasty, rude, do not speak Polish or English or Spanish. Post-Katrina, I was mailing packages of used clothes, toothbrushes and soap to communities in the south. The packages were marked KATRINA DONATIONS by request of the church who was handling the donation distribution. The clerks repeatedly grilled me what was inside -beyond the 'liquid, perishables, etc.' - and threatened constantly to open the box to inspect it when I told them I wasn't required to tell them what was inside beyond the initial questions. Southside Williamsburg gets a bad rap just because it has a line, which is wrong. That line MOVES! they may not be as nice as your hometown in iowa, but they get their shit done, which is all I care about.

Grapost

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 12:32:48 -0500

Now you see HOW DIFFICULT it is to deal with the public. People take offense to the SLIGHTEST THING you say. Notice there is heavy shatterproof plexiglass in front of all the clerk windows to prevent customerS from assaulting postal employees. Postal employees have to deal crazy and pissed off people everyday. And you never know when one of them is going to lose it and assault you. Of course no supervisor could be found to speak to this guy. THAT is typical for the postal manager. Whenever there is a problem those guys always find someplace to hide. This must have occured during lunch time. They're so dedicated the wouldn't interrupt their lunch to do there job. The guy was making a mountain out of a molehill. How come he wasn't at work at that time of day? He's probably getting a government disability check I'll bet, for a mental disability.

pm

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:27:40 -0500

Ben Smith looks a nut that should have been handcuffed by the police. Strange that someone was there to take the pictures. I am retired postal manager, I have seen screwballs like him before. I wonder what his coworkers think of him, if he can hold down a job. (Maybe BergerKing) Put him incharge of the fries.

bluelines

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:18:57 -0500

Kensington? Hell no. Shout out to Peter Stuyvesant on 14th between 1st and A for the worst NYC post office ever. I walked past one of our mail carriers the other day, where she was standing at a mailbox. Was she getting the mail from the box? Nah. She was just hanging out, reading a copy of one of those Us/In Touch/People rags. After 11 years, I finally know why I don't get my mail until 6 p.m. Best P.O., I kid you not, is on 149th Street and Grand Concourse in the Bronx (I work up there). All sorts of functioning stamp machines, extended hours, and super-competent, nice older man behind one of the windows. Church Street is also quite nice.

flushing

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 23:16:35 -0500

sorry, but flushing is the absolute worst. i've seen many many worse meltdowns than this. there are always 50 people in line, and most people just need to buy a stamp or something. i live right next to it but can never use it. it's almost gotten to blows there. they need to fully staff every single freakin windown and have super duper multi lingual folks walking around to help folk.

pb

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:27:48 -0500

There are none of those scales or forms at Kensington either, Berry, and they don't have working machines either. I've thought about a P.O. Box too as I cannot trust the mail in 11218. And if you get a yellow slip, it's likely you'll never see the parcel as they lose them. Plus there have been packages I've never got and never received a yellow slip for either. Add on the rudeness of the staff, the length of lines, the seeming obliviousness to customers and the number of closed windows and you've got a major problem. Maybe other post offices are as bad, but this doesn't take away from the terrible service this post office offers.

Berry

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 11:51:54 -0500

And, they never had ANY forms out for you to use AND they didn't have a decent vending machine where you could take care of your needs yourself. AND there were never more than 2 clerks at a time no matter how long the line was. Did I mention they were slow! It was horrible. I don't even think there was a scale out in the lobby.

Berry

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 11:49:15 -0500

Naw, our post office in zip 11238 Clinton Hill on Fulton Street was the worst! It was so bad I maintained a P.O. Box in Manhattan just so I would have access to a P.O. The only time you could get your mail or mail anything from the P.O. was on Saturday. It was horrible! And they had the nerve to be slow!

foo

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 10:41:06 -0500

Two words: Affirmative inAction.

armchair_warrior

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:23:57 -0500

the ones in bensonhurst and gravesend are very good. line are about few mins long :).

kt11218

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:20:46 -0500

i have to chime in and agree that the kensington post office is by far the worst post office i've ever been to. picking up a package is definitely a weekend chore - and one that you need to set aside at least 2 hours for. the last time i picked up a package, i opened it and found another package (a box of personal checks) INSIDE addressed to another apartment down the street. how did their package get inside my own sealed package from a family member in the midwest? i wanted to call the post office and make a complaint (no use in going back and waiting another 2 hours in line), but of course there's no way to call them anyway. i've witnessed many many meltdowns like this at the kensington post office, and i've come close to having one myself. i have to say that every time i've landed on the side of the customer. i can never wrap my head around why there is only one window open while 3 or 4 more postal employees sit around talking on their cell phones. does a manager even exist at this place? i usually go all the way up to the Grand Central station to get good service. and it's completely worth it.

pb

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 13:25:30 -0500

I agree with you, Emily. And I use the tiny Prospect Park West branch whenever I can--it's a great little branch and I even saw a customer bring flowers to the staff one day! Kensington's management and staff are equally at fault (given the unemployment rate in the city among young educated people who would certainly take these relatively well paid jobs, I'm appalled at the people who work there).

OY

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 13:12:25 -0500

The Flatbush Life community newspaper had a report on this problem earlier in the month... seems the Kensington PO has a new station manager. We shall see..

emily

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 12:56:24 -0500

>The PO workers are only trying do deal with shitty bureaucratic realities beyond their control. Have a heart, show some sympathy... In the case of Kensington, I have no doubt that there is management incompetence at work. Because sure, there are good post offices in NYC: try Rockefeller Center station. The Main Branch can have a long line, but the employees are invariably polite, even gracious, and efficient. Hello -- even the tiny branch on Prospect Park West, where I go to mail my packages and letters instead of Kensington, has friendly and competent employees. But at some point you're left dealing with the person in front of you. And when you encounter the same problems, hassles and disdain over and over, which patrons of the Kensington station eventually do...well, hard to keep the bigger picture in mind. I have no problem with "subsidizing" the mail for people in rural areas -- that's what it means to have a common tax pool, folks. Some of these rural residents grow our food, or at least the feed for our eventual food...should we pay extra for food because we don't live near a wheat or soybean farm? But the USPS should indeed be made accountable for writing off so many of our neighborhood stations. We hear a lot of grumbing from the USPS about declining use of mail in the digital age, competing shippers undercutting their business...well, do something that'll encourage us to keep using your service.

pb

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 12:47:32 -0500

This post office is the worst--worse even than Chicago. They lose packages routinely, mail is misdelivered frequently, magazines come late and sometimes are read before you get them and even bills don't always get delivered. Mail forwarding is erratic. I could go on. You can avoid going to the post office to buy stamps, etc., but you can't go elsewhere when you get a package delivery slip (only to be told rudely that they don't have anything and are you sure you didn't pick it up earlier?).You also have no control over them delivering your mail (and I've had substitute delivery guys dump mail on the stairs rather than put it in the mailbox). The extreme levels of rudeness, incompetence and aggression are practically unparalleled. Staffing is low, lines are long (bank on an hour and bring reading), machines are always out of order (and have been for the six years I've lived here). Yet the staff talk to each other and on cellphones, play with their cash drawers and frequently take breaks. They treat all customers with contempt and are extraordinarily rude. The lines are always out the door, the interior messy and forms missing. It's a nightmare. I'm glad it's finally come out as I'm sick of telling people not to mail any packages or anything remotely valuable to my address. I've complained numerous times to the post office supervisor, the USPS and nothing ever changed--I doubt anything will now. I've had magazine subscription depts. look into what's happening as they're sick of extending subscriptions for magazines I never receive.

BrooklynNative

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 10:59:15 -0500

Any line you are standing in for what seems like an eternity is the "worst" and the frustration should be directed at the managers/supervisors who don't open up more stations. Yes they are civil servants in the Post Office but they are not the repositories of your frustration for waiting - that is the nature of living in NYC. Remember the frustration hearing the subway pull in while you were on the token lines at the subway before metro cards. If you want real frustration and passive aggressive acting out, try the deli counter at Fairway on a Saturday afternoon. The mix of urban dwellers and uber-colonists with their spawn make for a potent mix of passive aggressive acting out. If one more of those pasty faced idiots hits me with their carts as they try to jockey to see the cold cut cases, there will be a big acting out! And please make Ava and Todd stop running around like the over-indulged brats they are, we don't find them all that cute. You do because they look like you. I just have to figure out a way to get my point across without having to actually throttle them.........

Tucker

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 00:27:33 -0500

That is one uppity fag! Honey you're turning into a stereotype! Pick up Mr. Hat and go home! The post offices in the suburbs are pleasant, quiet, have no bulletproof glass between you and the employees, are well-stocked and friendly. And people still bitch! I tell them go to Brooklyn and see what waiting on line is really like.

Tucker

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 00:20:44 -0500

anonymass

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 23:37:30 -0500

#74, I'm sorry but for me it works the other way around. City/state/federal employees get my sympathy when I see that they deserve it. These people routinely take their grievances out on us - the public-at-large, the customers. Why on earth wouldn't we take our grievances out on them? Not to mention - these are their JOBS. Most of the time we're held hostage by these foul, nasty people. When people in these positions drop the 'tudes, stop sleeping on the job (e.g. the notorious sightings of TWU workers asleep in booths), and so on, they might receive reciprocally improved treatment from the public.

anonymass

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 23:35:49 -0500

#75, I'm sorry but for me it works the other way around. City/state/federal employees get my sympathy when I see that they deserve it. These people routinely take their grievances out on us - the public-at-large, the customers. Why on earth wouldn't we take our grievances out on them? Not to mention - these are their JOBS. Most of the time we're held hostage by these foul, nasty people. When people in these positions drop the 'tudes, stop sleeping on the job (e.g. the notorious sightings of TWU workers asleep in booths), and so on, they might receive reciprocally improved treatment from the public.

LM

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 23:23:01 -0500

I'd like to give another shout-out to LIC/Astoria branch, 11106. From the moment they open the doors to when they close at night there are never any fewer than 25 people on line, and 1-2 windows open.The line is so horrible that I'd rather take the package to the city and deal with a PO over there.and they want to raise the postal rates again???

Jen

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:44:03 -0500

LOL re: comment 48! I know exactly who you're talking about! I actually like GCT though because it's open til 9pm and because it doesn't look like a bombed-out Iron Curtain post office like the rest of them...the line moves quickly at all times. Greenpoint and Williamsburg are indeed upsetting because they are so understaffed and they don't have any employees that speak the same languages as their constituents. This is actually a problem in many post offices in the city. The USPS is unresponsive to the population's needs. The crux of the problem is related to comment (72): the USPS needs to pay more attention to cities since we subsidize the rest of the system. We get one employee for every 70,000 residents and Wyoming prob. gets 1 for 700... There is so little attention paid to attracting and retaining good employees, just like with the rest of the Federal system. There is an eye-opening article re: this issue in Jonathan Franzen's "How to be Alone."

Jason

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:23:34 -0500

New York enjoys the highest population density in the US. As such, mail delivery is extremely efficient and inexpensive here. Considering how cheap it is for the PO to move mail in the city, it's outrageous that we suffer with such poor service. If you want to bitch and complain, target your ire at the Federal officials who shortchange cities like NY in favored of bigger, sprawled out areas. Personally, I think it's ridiculous someone who lives deep in the Wyoming sticks gets to pay the same amount for postage as someone who elects to live in an urban, infrastructure-friendly area. If you want to be pissed, hang your insults on the rural areas we unfairly subsidize. As an aside, I find there is a real disturbing, nasty bias towards public employees in the city in forums like this (see also: the Transit strike). While there are legions of government workers who provide less-than-stellar service, consider the population they serve and the compensation they receive. Even though they have to deal with crazy nyc rents, I seriously doubt postal workers are paid significantly higher wages here in the city than any place else in the country. I'm sure the PO gets the employees it pays for--not to mention the only employees willing to put up with the thankless task of dealing with thousands of "me first!" New Yorkers every day... The PO workers are only trying do deal with shitty bureaucratic realities beyond their control. Have a heart, show some sympathy...

it's not the service

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:23:08 -0500

This is what happens when you have one employer of last resort. Get rid of that employer of last resort. I thought republicans wanted less government, why is there even more red tape along with with higher fees for everything?

ろい

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:04:08 -0500

First, I've seen the folks @ the East Broadway station spit. AND there are signs posted saying no spitting. The m*therf*ckers @ the Bedford-Stuyvesant station constantly wear their bluetooth cellphones and yammer throughout your transaction. There should be regulations against that. Imagine me teaching my class and talking on my celly throughout the lesson. ITS UNPROFESSIONAL!!!! The service industry is down the tubes.

susan

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 20:08:56 -0500

OK - this video is from december the busiest time of the year and there is only 1 window open!!! (out of 5). Typical of them to have only 1 window open. I too have asked for the manager & once waited over 15 minutes before I started to raise my voice. In 1 week I had to speak with 4 different managers!!! because they lost a package on me - and by the voice in the video it was the same person who told me "I receive too many packages anyway"

bob

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 19:06:30 -0500

Greenpoint... on Messerole I think. Always a line, always slow, and totally oblivious to the term "customer service." I once had one of those pink "pick up package" slips left at my door... except where it should keep a record of what the package number there was just a squiggle. They said there was no way they could find out which package was mine. Even though it was their postman/woman who messed up. "I'm sorry sir, but I don't know what that squiggle means! Try back later!"

Eddie

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 19:04:18 -0500

This video made me sick to my stomach!!! Obviously the postal employees at Kensington are so uneducated that they don't realize that this poor man is a human being like them who deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. What's worse is noone in line stepped up and defended this poor man. I work for a company that gives you a 7 day training course on how to provide outstanding customer service. Noone in the building is allowed to say no to a customer or that's your job. You're taught that it's the customer walking through that door that pays your salary. That postal worker should have been fired on the spot. This is just another sign that the lovely Mr. Bush ( he doesn't deserve the title of president) is the worst thing to happen to our great nation. The US post office should be ashamed of itself.

solidago

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:57:46 -0500

will.xls (Federal monopoly + unskilled unionized workers= incompetents with a sense of entitlement. Our tax dollars at (almost) work.) Amen. Time to privatize this asinine institution! Even friggin' Germany did it. I go to the post office once every three months to send my taxes via certified mail and think bad thoughts about unions and government entities.

5th Ave.

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:41:53 -0500

9th street in Park Slope is terrible. I shipped a package overnight and an employee opened the package, removed the contents, sealed it back with scotch tape and delivered the tampered and empty package. I had paid for insurance and overnight shipping. The insurance amount was the red flag that got the thief's attention. When I called this Post Office, I was screamed at by an employee who answered the phone and told I had no right accusing one of them of theft. I asked to speak to a manager and was refused. The theft was reported to the Post Master General and we are still waiting for the report.

Samantha T

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:19:31 -0500

Somebody asked for good post offices. I lived on W. 52nd Street and the post office near there was absolutely fabulous. No line, no attitude, really clean. It can be done. Also, mail delivery in 11201 is very, very good. I'd love to link this thread to the "why do people move out of the city?" thread. It's this kind of agita that makes me want to move to the suburbs. In my little, blue-collar New England town, this shit NEVER would've gone down. Ever.

emily

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:52:02 -0500

Yes! Kensington 11218 is the worst post office in NYC. Clerks seem to moving through molassas. There are never more than three windows staffed; usually one or two. There appears to be no time of the day to go there to get good service. My mailman regularly leaves slips saying he tried to deliver a package but couldn't. I work AT HOME. I am AT HOME nearly every weekday during working hours. Did my bell ring? No, of course not. I completely believe in the veracity of this video -- I've seen people melt down like this at Kensington P.O. One particularly horrible morning, despite getting there right at opening I was an hour late to work, trying to pick up a package. We only got service at the pickup window after one man began to yell for a manager, and refused to stop until she came forward to staff the pickup window. After waiting all that time, my package was "lost." (It did turn up a day or two later.) Many other people were also waiting for over an hour and didn't get their packages. I called the USPS main service number to register a complaint that day, and posted the info on how to do it to Craigslist in for other Kensington PO victims. I didn't leave my name however -- I kinda like getting my mail -- so who knows what good it did. I have lived in four big American city and a few smaller ones, and this is hands-down the worst post office ever.

bklynd

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:38:16 -0500

There is an option to email the US Postal Service at usps.com. I used it to complain about something specific (the Bay Ridge PO left the stamp machine unplugged for months), threw in some general comments (about not delivering any packages and 100-people lines) and actually got a good response - a phone call from the new manager assuring me that those problems were history. And things really did improve. Cause and effect? Who knows.

Patrick

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:37:27 -0500

Try the Post Office on Avenue U in Gravesend. The Gravesend Station. The reason no one complains about it....they all die waiting in line. I survived but I was only a baby when I walked in the door, now I'm an old man.

east villageer

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:34:15 -0500

Peter Stuyvesant station on 14th/avenue A has got to have the rudest workers in the USPS. The line to pick up packages is perpetually 30 minutes. They bark at you like you are the one serving them. I tell everyone sending me packages to send them to my work address and NOT this location because it is HELL. They give other government workers a bad name.

pineear

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:22:51 -0500

I'm with t-bone. The one in Boerum Hill on Atlantic Ave is truly unbelievable. The one in Red Hook is a lot better, but it's getting worse every month. That said, they are all pretty miserable, and as soon as you get outside the city post offices are an entirely different experiece. One of my least favorite things about our city.

cat

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:13:08 -0500

A couple of years ago, my mail suddenly stopped getting delivered. I'm in the 11211 zip, the S4th st post office. I called the post office repeatedly and the manager always said that I needed the speak with my mail carrier to find out what was going on and the mail carrier wasn't there are the moment. He also said that I could not come pick up my mail because only my mail carrier would know where it is. He would take a message and promise that my mail carrier would call back, which he never did. Finally after 2 WEEKS of no mail in our building at all, I call and the mail carrier is actually at the post office. He basically says "oh yeah, that building, I lost the front door key for that building a couple of weeks ago". Are you fucking serious? He lost the key that was in the postman's lockbox and told no one, not my landlord, not any of the other residents in my building, he just stopped delivering mail. The front door locks had to be changed and a new key had to be left at the market downstairs for the mail carrier to pick up. A few days later, 3 gigantic mailbags of our backed-up mail showed up in the front hallway, unsorted. I guess I should be happy that he didn't just throw it all away. Oh yeah, and he was a total dick about it, like it was such a hassle for him to have to deliver all the mail he never delivered and never told anyone about.

a

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:09:36 -0500

Postal service in general has gotten pretty bad though.. we have had major problems in our 200+ unit building getting mail on time or at all. When one of the residents complained to the post office, she was told that the mail carrier assigned to our route is "old" and "slow" and close to retirement, so he flat-out refuses to deliver mail to our building and the other 200+ unit building in our neighborhood. As a result, we get "freelance"? carriers putting mail in our boxes, and we get a different one nearly every day, so they never get anything right. I routinely get mail for someone in another BUILDING, on another STREET altogether, who happens to have the same apartment number as me. WTF?!? But hey, what does that old mail carrier care? He'll be set for life with his government pension. *sigh*

ruby

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:07:25 -0500

Urgh. My favorite is the Cadman Plaza PO at Christmas time. All those miserable postal workers scowling behind their bullet proof glass wearing reindeer horns or santa hats - so festive! They have lost my mail, refused to pay for stolen insured packages they admitted had been LEFT ON MY STOOP by the postal carrier, and randomly returned my mail as undeliverable for no reason whatsoever. When I asked about it I never got any answer. Once I was in the middle of a transaction when the witchy lady behind the glass told me to basically fuck off, she was going to lunch, she was hungry. There is no recourse. They investigate their own complaints, so there you have it. Seems like it is illegal to tamper with the mail unless you work for the Brooklyn PO.

amanda

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:05:00 -0500

The Kensington post office is the WORST! I never had the displeasure of actually GOING there (thank god), but when I moved and asked to get my mail forwarded, I literally had to call daily for four weeks to get them to actually forward it. Luckily my old roommate still lived there and collected my mail that was going to my old address. I live near the Cadman post office in downtown Brooklyn now and I have to say the service is much better. I also used to live in 11205 and the office on Myrtle Avenue wasn't bad either.

mechanic

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:01:25 -0500

What about the post office on Myrtle ave? I swear, the employees there (besides being disgruntled) think it's their job to tell you WHY you CANNOT mail what you came to mail, rather than help you try to mail what you came to mail. I've been sent away from the counter for using the wrong form, just to search the whole place to find the proper form wasn't stocked. (when they could have just been like "you used the wrong form, here's the right one")... I remember seeing a pratt student, after waiting close to an hour on line be told she couldn't use the box she had used. In tears she said, "but this is the package it was mailed to ME in!"

steve

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:58:31 -0500

what the hell is wrong with this website, when you click on the comments section of the post office post, it brings you to a comment page with a fraction of the actual comments recorded. Then, when you click on the gothamist homepage, it brings you to a different order of postings (older) with the newest ones missing. WTF?

thetakingsissue

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:52:27 -0500

The Park Slope post office on 9th Street had been one of the very first places I had visited after moving to New York. Sleepless and exhausted--I had just endured a red-eye with delays into La Guardia--but still wide-eyed (This was New York! after all), I sleepily agreed to accompany my Uncle, whom I was staying with, to drop off a package at the nearby post office. My uncle lives in the Gowanus area and it was a breezy summer morning, why not? Maybe it was the exhaustion, or maybe just the alien newness of everything, but my abnormal mindstate made the ensuing scene seem surreal, almost cinematic. The line, of course, was out the door, and bodies packed the flourescent-lit space like teenagers packed into a basement to see a college band. In the front, though, a woman I presume was a mother--a toddler was nestled into a stroller she gripped onto--was, there's no other word for this: flailing. Flailing and screaming. The clerk stood steely-eyed behind her plastic, bulletproof partition, devoid of response. "F--k you! F--k ALL of you!" She pointed not only at the clerk, but at the rest of us. Her kid cooed from the stroller. She slammed her package into the glass, SPIT, yes SPIT on the floor, and huffed off, shaking the dust off of her heels, I'm sure, as she exited. I stood there for a second, shifting the weird box my Uncle made me hold, wondering what to do. The clerk at the front, though, didn't miss a beat: "Next!" "Welcome to New York!" my Uncle said.

daveb

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:50:33 -0500

I'd be the first to agree that NYC postal service is the worst (especially Brooklyn), but this video hardly showcases it. All I see is what appears to be a mentally unhinged man acting out and generally behaving like a douchebag who enjoys a good powertrip.

Not amused

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:47:54 -0500

Lol, I can't remember the last time I went too my local Post office . Mmmm, It seems about right though, I think it really depends on what Post office you go too . If these employees are really that bad then they should be replaced . The basis of customer service is courtesy, & that ain't what's happening here !

will.xls

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:46:46 -0500

Federal monopoly + unskilled unionized workers= incompetents with a sense of entitlement. Our tax dollars at (almost) work.

smitty

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:43:37 -0500

9th Street Park Slope wins as worst. Regarding the boxes that someone else mentioned, I have come across that too: They wouldn't allow me to mail a package in an amazon.com box, because apparently it is advertising amazon and the post office doesn't want to give free advertising, even though it was mailed to me.

PO AGENT

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:40:28 -0500

ok, so maybe this postal agent wasn't nice. we don't really see anything in this video that shows us WHY this guy is flipping out like that. i don;t understand why nobody here is talking about how INSANE this customer is! if i had to deal with people like this every day, i would start asking who the hell they think they are too.

Gwin

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:38:02 -0500

My neighborhood P.O. (on East Broadway in 10002) is okay as long as you haven't had the misfortune to go on a day when every single person in Chinatown has decided to send an oversized package overseas. All the midtown post offices suck: 3rd/54th, Grand Central (HORRIBLE, especially the totally incompetent French (?) lady who looks like a little pig - if you've been to that branch you'll know who I mean), even the tiny one at 2nd/47th. The workers there yelled at me when I asked to borrow a pair of scissors. Nice, right?

park

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:22:09 -0500

I nominate the post office on 23rd street and 10th avenue as one of the worst. On several occasions Ive seen postal workers stop helping customers to answer personal calls from their cell phones. The line is always out the door and naturally there is only one or two windows open. The last straw for me was when I tried to mail a stack of 15 packets and after the 10th one the postal worker told me that they can only process 10 items at a time and I would have to get back in line and wait to mail the remaining 5.

Sci Rye

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:18:39 -0500

I'm going to have to throw in another nomination for the 11238/adelphi station as the worst. I've had mail stolen, credit cards stolen, magazines opened and read (if they show up at all), lost packages, and even had my bank account frozen twice due to their ineptitude. Even though my name is on my mailbox, and I've lived in the same building for 8 years, they bounce mail back to my bank as 'undeliverable', and as a result the bank freezes my account. What happens when you go to the PO to complain? You get a blank stare.

Adam

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:18:11 -0500

The Long Island City post office (11106) has a perpetual line all day every day. And they are s-l-o-w.

racheltvgirl

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:05:20 -0500

I've lived in the Kensington and Park Slope PO areas, but Park Slope is worse BY FAR. I found Kensington to have lots of minor annoyances (lines, lack of supplies, etc.) but I had few problems with my mail service. The Van Brunt station on 9th Street in Park Slope, however, should not even be able to be called a "post office." Mail service in the Slope sends me into a rage - my blood pressure is rising just typing this. They ignore change of address forwarding and I would daily get mail for various neighbors as far as 6 blocks away. I've had numerous packages go missing after tracking them to the Van Brunt station - then poof! Gone! At best, they're mishandling an alarming amount of post -- at worse, stealing it. My favorite fury-inducing instance, while tracking down a missing overseas package, I was told (with attitude) that I'd already come in, showed ID, signed for it and taken it. When I insisted on seeing my signature, it turned out it was signed for by (and presumably given to) someone I'd never heard of! I was then lied to by a "manager" just to get me out the door. My reimbursement never appeared, which is probably because they never filed the claim form, I discovered later when I called the national 800 number. Beautiful.

Andrew

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:04:00 -0500

That gay dude reminds me of the gay teacher on South Park. If anyone is deserving of 50 shots from the police, that man does.

marjorie

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:01:35 -0500

If you think the 11211 (havemeyer) post office is bad, try 11206 (debevoise st) in bushwick/east williamsburg. the service unbelievable, and they are extremely unkind (screaming at tiny old black ladies). I've called the USPS several times to complain and spoken with the manager who gave me the most ridiculous ghetto-bureaucrat speak. I am glad that others have horror stories as well. I really thought mine was the worst.

gk

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:50:19 -0500

Adelphi 11238 is terrible. But now I have seen in post offices machines that can do everything you need the window for. Hopefully this will shake out all the lazy, incompetent, useless and rude employees.

John Huntington

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:50:03 -0500

YES!!! This is the worst post office in NYC!!! I used to live in Park Slope/11215, and they are rank amateurs in incompetence compared to 11218. If someone ships me something USPS, I will let it bounce back to the shipper and then pay at my own expense to get it FedEx or UPS. John

bklyndesigner

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:27:18 -0500

For the time I lived in Park Slope, the office on 9th street was horrible. Always wait in long line, rude service, etc. My favorite part about that is that they won't let you "recycle" boxes that have a company logo on them (ie reusing Fresh Direct boxes). Who knew they can make up their own rules for what can go through the US mail! Now I'm on the other side of the park, which has it's own difficulties, but I've met some very caring mail carriers (one who lives in my building).

Jimmy Legs

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:14:48 -0500

i second male man, everybody thinks their own PO is the worst, we'd do better to list the 'good' ones. if there are any. the problem is, the postal service doesn't really seem to be accountable to anyone but itself.

adam

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:13:28 -0500

Most post offices in the city are terrible. I have had countless problems with mail not being held, not being forwarded... etc... It all comes down to employeee incompetence. Most of the workers are of very limited intelligence. Add that to the fact that there are very few repercussions for below average job performance, and few reasons to excell. It's a nightmare, but there are no other options for basic mail service.

pedestrian

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:09:20 -0500

Screw the USPS. This is why I pay bills online and use private delivery.

ned

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:07:06 -0500

i have had many problems at the 9th street post office in Park Slope. Lost packages and they never ever redeliver. they would rather sit on there ass and have you come in to pickup.

in kensington

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:05:02 -0500

"Kensington wasn't good, but I had more horrible experiences at the one on 9th Street in Park Slope. They NEVER had stamps in their stamp dispensers or, alternatively, they didn't give any change." The Kensington office has had an "out of order" stamp dispenser for over a year and a half now, and that's only as long as I've lived in this neighborhood. Could be longer. There is no automated service whatsoever--you are at the complete mercy of the self-absorbed, chatty bitches who work there. No matter how long the line is, there's only ever one person attending to customers while she gabs bullshit to the three other workers who are sitting behind the counter, admiring their nails and doing jack shit else.

and i love the post office!

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:00:33 -0500

canal street is terrible. i feel like i've been shipped into a terry gilliam movie there, with the attendant time distortion. also, it is miserably hot in the summer. they really have pinpointed suffering down to a science at canal street. now i use chelsea station, which is much more lovely, however the lines are still long. i don't wait in the lines, b/c i ALWAYS use the automated postal machine.

claire

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:55:38 -0500

are you sure that video isn't from the 9th street park slope p.o.? i feel like i was there and witnessed that whole outburst.... or that guy is just making the rounds. on another note, i happened to be there this morning around 9am. and it was EMPTY. bizarre.

midtowner

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:54:03 -0500

P.O.? post office or pissed off? i've had consistently good and fast service at the post office on 42nd st. and 9th outside of the port authority, and the one on 43rd st. between 5th and 6th. you get the usual surly bunch, but a lot of the staff at these two branches, that i've dealt with anyway, are quite friendly. you'd think with park slopers penchant for complaining, something would've gotten through about this branch. you can send a complaint through the usps website. i've actually gotten a quick response from them - will that result in anything? maybe not, but if there's enough people pissed off about them, who knows.

Alicia Kachmar

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:47:19 -0500

9th St Park Slope is bad, and they are generally unintelligent when it comes to delivering mail. We had the unfortunate fate of living on 6th St, while there is also a 6th AVENUE nearby with the same numbered address. We always got their mail, I would circle the "ave" in red ink, and two days later, it was back in my box. I started hand-delivering it. Once we got something posted to North Carolina, again twice. And something my roommate sent to CT went to Arizona. Wtf. 7th avenu park slope is horrible as well. One teller usually, 10+ people in line, stamp machine always broken. I must say though, there are always a lot of dumb people in line too. Bring your own pens and tape people!

timbnyc

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:38:51 -0500

The POs in NYC seem to have the right - or take the right - to make their own rules. Particularly with package delivery, my PO in Queens used to leave the slips that said if you signed the slip and left it out they would deliver the package. I did so, they never took the slip nor delivered the package. When I finally went to the PO, the manager said, Well, you have to call us and tell us you want it delivered. Hello? Where's that rule printed? Unless you're a longtime resident, you just have no idea how to go about the simplest tasks.

michele

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:34:59 -0500

kensington is BY FAR the worst i've ever seen! thank you for posting this! i definitely used to choose the park slop post offices over kensington, despite the hassle of going to a different neighborhood. if you've nominated a park slope p.o., i challenge you to visit our friends in kensington--their slowness, meanness, and laziness will make your blood boil.

hem

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:34:15 -0500

"ummm... why is that guy talking like that?" Joe, see comment 22, above.

Samantha T

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:32:08 -0500

Famdoc - I hear you. This could definitely be seen as a cheap shot at the disabled. I was under the impression, though, that people were applauding him for saying what everybody else is thinking. That he's developmentally disabled and has a better idea of how the post office should be run than the staff really says something.

Joe

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:27:02 -0500

ummm... why is that guy talking like that?

pole

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:22:19 -0500

I have stood line at the Greenpoint post office for 45 minutes without it moving before.

alan

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:17:38 -0500

11238 (Adelphi station - Prospect Heights) is pretty awful. Most journals that I would get in the mail would arrive months late. Once, I received a special letter from the PO apologizing about a piece of mail that was completely destroyed (ripped in half). They included the destroyed mail in the envelope. I've had them lose checks and not deliver packages. Even if you are home, they will more often than not just give you a yellow slip to go to the post office to pick up your package (which, btw, is NO WHERE CLOSE to the community it serves). If you stop by the Adelphi station on a Saturday morning, it is not uncommon to have a line going out the door...

famdoc

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:10:16 -0500

Shame on you. Regardless of the grievances people have against the post office in Bklyn (the branch PO on Seventh Ave. in Park Slope should be shuttered and sent to Baghdad), to repost this Youtube film is an affront. Anyone can see that this customer has a developmental disability. His tirade has as much to do with his maltreatment as a customer as it does with the nature of his disability: he has probably been treated poorly in many social and business settings and may, perhaps, have a low frustration tolerance. Despite his apparent rich vocabulary, he clearly suffers from a disability that impairs his judgment. The person who filmed him and anyone who laughs at him should be ashamed.

brooklynbee

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:06:42 -0500

I second what clintonstreet said - the entire 11231 zip code - which is a pretty big area - has one post office that is very, very inaccesible to many parts of that zip code. I always use a UPS store when I need to send something - no lines, cost about the same as the p.o.

Peter

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:01:19 -0500

Dear Gothamist: I just mailed you a letter giving the Post Office's point of view and defending that fine institution against angry critics. You should be getting the letter in a month or two.

piminnowcheez

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:56:10 -0500

I've used both the Kip's Bay post office on 34th and the Williamsburg post office on Havemeyer and they are both incredibly bad - slow, understaffed, understocked, and contemptuous of the customers. I was away last summer and got the deluxe forwarding service, which is not cheap, and was on the phone to the Williamsburg office every week over the summer trying to get my gd mail. No one I talked to, at any level, had any idea how the service was supposed to work even though the rules/description were right there on the forms distributed by the USPS. I used to live in Berkeley, CA, and thought the PO there was unbelievably bad, but NY post offices set a new standard. All the ones I've been to in New England, on the other hand, were great.

canalst

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:55:50 -0500

I nominate Canal St. The Window 11 folks are great, but the rest...they only open 2 windows at lunch, the line is miserable and, the last time I was there, one of the clerks announced she was not going to take more than 6 packages. Of course, everyone in line had a pile of packages and when they questioned this, she said she didn't care and everyone could screw themselves. The person she was serving said, "Isn't this your job?!" To which, the clerk yelled that she was NOT to be questioned or told how to do her job. Really professional.

clintonstreet

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:55:45 -0500

What about the fact that Carroll Gardens doesn't really have a post office? Zip code 11231 has to cross the BQE and go to the Red Hook post office to pick up packages, etc.

jim

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:53:43 -0500

i've had to go a few times to pick up packages...what a nightmare...by far the worst ive ever seen. nice looking building from the outside, tho the place is overwhelmed by immigrants who dont speak english very well...there for passport services, money orders, etc...it reeeeally slows the place down which leads to frustration from all ends.

Samantha T

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:53:15 -0500

Kensington wasn't good, but I had more horrible experiences at the one on 9th Street in Park Slope. They NEVER had stamps in their stamp dispensers or, alternatively, they didn't give any change. The line wasn't to be believed. Thank God I work at a job where I can send things out from work without question. The P.O. in Brooklyn Heights is great. You wait in line, but it's really only because there are a lot of people in line, not because the staff is wretched and insane.

t-bone

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:48:58 -0500

Are you seriously posting this article without mentioning the Boerum Hill post office on Atlantic? The one the community has been fighting with for YEARS to get halfway decent service? THAT is the worst post office in the city, no question.

lorna

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:45:14 -0500

I lived in the 11218 for almost ten years and I have to say that I'm surprised at this. I always found mail delivery to be pretty good although I would occasionally not get my New Yorker magazines. I didn't actually go into the post office very often but in the ten year period I moved three times and they would always continue to forward my mail long after the forwarding window had expired. Now the Park Slope post office, that's another story. That was hands down the worst post office ever.

Ace

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:41:41 -0500

The staff at the old Church Street Station post office were wonderful. The concept of 9-5 delivery (Fedex, UPS, US Postal Service)and 9-5 window service (Post Offices)is ridiculous for anyone working a 9-5 job.

hello?

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:36:44 -0500

Is there any other recourse than complaining to the supervisor? (who obviously doesn't give a rat's ass) 311 maybe? seriously, if 'civilians' tampering with mail is a federal offense, shouldn't there be someone who cares about the whole post office screwing it up? There ought to be some level of governmental accountability here.

edEx

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:36:07 -0500

I send letters. and do all online banking, plus it saves a lot of paper. I refuse to go into any post office, they're all assholes—all of em! if i need to send a package I use FedEx, they're much more reliable and have superior service compared to any post office. it's all about private service.

male man

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:30:51 -0500

So, what's the best post office then?

freeman

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:29:26 -0500

I read Gothamist on my bloglines, but never comment. Until now. I used to live across the street, directly, from the Kensington Post Office. I used to take the bus to Park Slope to avoid it. Employees were dead-eyed and seemingly confused by things like "letters" and "packages." If you showed up even 10 minutes after it opened, the line would be immediately to the door. Hands-down the worst post office that I've ever walked into.

g

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:27:05 -0500

Both post offices in Park Slope (9th Street and the one on 7th Ave) are horrendous. If you have 40 minutes to spare, you too can mail your package. I went away on a long vacation and put a stop on my mail. When I went to pick up one month's worth of mail, all I got was three envelopes. They had lost most of my mail, including some paychecks. Fun times. The one on 7th Ave rarely opens on time, meaning that going in before work is impossible. There are four windows, but never more than one or two employees. The line snakes out the door. It would honestly take less time to take the subway to 34th Street and conduct your business there!

NoDragon

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:20:30 -0500

I bet the PO agent was either white or black. Did anyone teach these federal agents that the customer is always right, and its agents need to have humility toward its customers ?

pepe

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:17:45 -0500

My mail used to come to me so badly ripped, and stuffed into the mail slot via the Kensington office, that I called the post office to complain, and ended up getting into an argument with the mail carriers supervisor, who accused me of lying... So much for customer service

William

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:16:27 -0500

If that postal worker looked Chinese, she would have gotten her ass kicked.

ben

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:14:26 -0500

Seconded on the Park Slope P.O. The forms you need are scattered on the floor and the tables.

nick

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:04:43 -0500

i live in the kensington area.. never really had the displeasure of going to the post office, but ive had packages held there, ive called to request redelivery, never had one thing redelivered. and i know this could have happened at many different points in the mail process, but ive had two holiday cards completely torn apart and delivered 2 months later, sans gift cards.

smitty

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:58:30 -0500

9th Street, Park Slope, is hands-down the worst. They yell at you there.