LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) -- Residents in two Lower East Side apartment buildings are frustrated their mailbox locks in their building are broken by vandals and no one has fixed the problem for months.
Feisty, frustrated, and wanting a fast fix.
Olga Mangual from the Jacob Riis Houses on the Lower East Side reached out to PIX11 News for help. Her mailbox is broken and missing its master lock, and the panel securing these mailboxes was vandalized and destroyed.
She keeps track and takes pictures. The mail of dozens of families impacted for more than three months.
Marilyn Gonzalez says she is battling brain cancer and waiting for important letters and medical bills. The closest post office is on 14th Street and 1st Avenue and that's hard to do with a walker but Gonzalez does it.
Jay Jarvis also from the Jacob Riis houses in another building says his mailboxes have been broken for more than a month.
PIX11 News reached out to Congressman Dan Goldman. It’s his district.
Goldman says broken mailboxes and locks are one the top complaints he gets from his constituents and he’s been fighting for a better and faster response time from both NYCHA and the postal service since last year.
PIX11 News reached out to NYCHA and the USPS.
The postal service spokesperson tells PIX11 they are looking into these complaints.
Meanwhile, a NYCHA spokesperson sent the following response: “NYCHA is aware of a recurring issue with mailboxes being vandalized at Riis Houses. We have made repairs where possible and are coordinating more extensive repairs to panels in these buildings with the U.S. Postal Service. We will continue working with the NYPD to monitor the situation and encourage residents and community members to report any criminal activity."
