File Photo
The dark green relay boxes (l.) targeted by crooks are located next to many of the blue collection boxes throughout the city.
By Forum Staff
Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) on Tuesday continued to call on the United States Postal Service (USPS) to do more to combat the theft of mail from green relay boxes in Queens.
In July, Meng wrote to the district manager who oversees postal operations in Queens calling for the Postal Service to address the problem. Although some changes were recently made, Meng said she wants to see them expanded, and in a follow-up letter to District Manager Frank Calabrese, called for additional steps be taken. They include:
- Reducing the amount of time that mail is left in relay boxes to lower the chances of thieves stealing the envelopes inside;
- Installing more locks on relay boxes including all that are located in Meng’s congressional district; and
- Notifying the public – specifically those impacted – when mail in relay boxes has been stolen.
“Unfortunately, mail theft has been a growing problem in my district over the past year,” Meng said. “Constituents need to know that their mail, property and information is safe, and that is why the security of these relay boxes is so important. I’m glad that improvements were made for Queens residents following the letter I sent earlier this year. However, these upgrades must be expanded to help stop this continued theft of mail. I look forward to working with USPS to help make sure that borough residents no longer worry about their mail’s security.”
Meng’s letter also highlights that mail theft has drastic consequences for letter carriers who deliver our mail. Letter carriers are frequently targeted, sometimes violently, by mail thieves, and this wave of thefts from relay boxes threatens their physical safety as well as the crucial service they provide to the public.
“Combating this crime not only protects the public’s interests but protects the brave letter carriers who are on the frontline of this crisis, and I thank Congresswoman Meng for taking the lead on tackling this issue,” said Tony Paolillo, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Flushing Branch 294, which represents postal workers throughout the borough. “For these men and women to have targets on their backs simply because of the mail they are trying to deliver is unacceptable. These letter carriers risked their lives in service to our communities through the COVID-19 pandemic, and they deserve to be protected. Every effort should be made to fully protect the letter carriers and the mail they deliver.”
The familiar dark green relay boxes are used to store mail and are located next to many of the blue collection boxes throughout NYC.
Meng’s missives come after the Postal Service retrofitted blue collection boxes in Queens with mail slots after she urged the agency to do so. She made the request in 2018 to combat the problem of “mail fishing” in the borough which is when criminals place string connected to a sticky material into the collection boxes and “fish” out the envelopes. The narrower slots make it more difficult for thieves to steal the mail that is inside, Meng noted.
