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Partly Cloudy Irked by mail delivery changes
USPS views shifting routes as a cost-cutting measure
After years of receiving their mail between noon and 1 p.m., some Woodmere residents have had to adjust since the Long Island District of the U.S. Postal Service altered their route in late July, causing deliveries to be much later in the day.
Jared Green, who lives on Yale Avenue, began contacting the USPS after about a week of getting his mail later than usual. For the past 30 years, Green said, he had received his mail at around noon, but lately it has been arriving as late as 5 p.m. “Urgency matters,” said Green. “Banks close, [and] there are errands you can’t run if the mail’s not there until that late.”
Cosmo Infantolino, the manager and the consumer and industry spokesman for the Long Island USPS district, explained the reason for the route changes out of the Woodmere post office. “Balancing the workload for all delivery routes helps us meet our goal to provide you with timely, consistent and quality delivery service at the lowest cost possible,” he wrote in an email. “These changes help keep postage costs as low as possible. I was advised that these changes are made by computer technology programs developed to determine the quickest and most cost-effective order to deliver a route. Unfortunately, when routes are changed, some customers will be delivered early, while others will be delivered at the end of the route.”
Route 15, which encompassed Yale Avenue, did not meet the criteria for a full carrier route and was incorporated into Route 2, according to Infantolino.
Green isn’t the only resident who is bothered by the change. “Last week, I actually got mail after 5 p.m. and was shocked!” said Mitchell Froehlich, a Woodmere Fire District commissioner and Yale Avenue resident. “I don’t think it would fly if I told people, ‘Sorry, the Fire Department couldn’t respond to your house burning down in a timely fashion due to budget cuts.’”
Some residents will always be at the end of a route, but the dramatic shift is part of what angers many residents. “I’ve been living here 33 years,” said a Bryant Street resident who identified himself only as Marvin. “We’re used to getting the mail before 12 noon. Now it comes very late. It reminds me of where I work in Brooklyn. It’s horrible.”
The USPS has responded to complaints with careful explanations, while making it clear that it does not intend to change the new routes anytime soon. “We know everyone would like to be the first delivery of the day, but that is not possible,” Steve Doherty, a USPS communications specialist, wrote in an email. “Our conversations with customers over the years show that customers are most concerned with affordable mail service that comes with regular, reliable delivery times.”
Feedback from residents appears to bear that out — mostly. “It was more convenient when it came earlier,” said Phil Merper, of Yale Avenue, “but it’s not a major problem.”
“Someone’s got to get their mail at 4,” said another Yale Avenue resident who declined to be identified.
But for some customers, the changes have created more than just an inconvenience. Judy Freud, who lives adjacent to Yale Avenue, on Oxford Road, said there have been days when she hasn’t received her mail. “We’re only getting the mail some days,” she said. “In other words, I’m finding that the next day, we’re getting a double delivery.” She said she had yet to contact the Woodmere post office about that problem.
Green said he was told that delivery times might improve in the coming weeks as carriers get accustomed to their new routes, but not to expect anything earlier than an hour or so sooner. He said he was skeptical about even that potential improvement, however, because his carrier appeared exhausted near the end of the route. One carrier who requested anonymity confirmed that his days have been longer since the changes were instituted.
Green has begun contacting his neighbors about organizing a campaign to resolve the issue. He maintains that while the USPS has shown no interest in it, “They just changed it,” he said. “They can do it again.”
Have you noticed a change in your mail delivery or have an opinion about mail delivery? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.
