111th Pct. advises against using ‘old’ mailboxes
BY JENNA BAGCAL
According to Capt. John
Hall of the 111th Precinct,
mailbox fishing has seen a
decline since its spike last
summer.
But he still advises against
dropping off checks in the
mailbox this tax season.
“If you have to write checks
this tax season, walk them
into the post office. @USPS
mailboxes aren’t secure,” reads
the tweet from the precinct’s
Twitter account. “Take checks
into the post office. @USPS
mailboxes will not be secure
until they are retrofitted,”
reads another Tweet.
Recently, Hall posted
information to Twitter
regarding four mailbox fishing
incidents between Jan. 25 and
Feb. 14. The captain reported
that the incidents happened at
the following mailboxes:
Friday, Jan. 25: Francis
Lewis Boulevard and 38th
Avenue
Tuesday, Feb. 5: Northern
Boulevard and 203rd Street
Tuesday, Feb. 5: Francis
Cops reported installation of new high-security mailboxes on Jan. 10. Courtesy of Twitter/NYPD111Pct
Lewis Boulevard and
32nd Avenue
Thursday, Feb. 14:
Northern Boulevard and
194th Street
“The mailbox fishing
problem didn’t really start
up in full force last year
until early summer. The
volume compared to then has
definitely declined. They’re
not using mailbox keys to
open the boxes anymore
since USPS made changes
to the locks. Now, they are
restricted to fishing. We
still advise people to not use
the ‘old’ mailboxes,” Hall
told TimesLedger.
United States Postal
Service (USPS) spokeswoman
Donna Harris told
TimesLedger that the agency
was steadily working to
replace or retrofit mailboxes
throughout the 111th
Precinct with the “Cadillac
of mailboxes.”
The new high-security
mailboxes feature small
slits — about three-eighths
of an inch high — instead of
a larger opening. According
to Harris, the new mailboxes
have already been installed
in areas in Bayside, Oakland
Gardens and Little Neck.
Harris said that USPS
will eventually replace or
retrofit all 206 blue mailboxes
throughout the precinct,
though she did not specify
a timeline for when it would
be complete.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
224-5863 ext. 214.
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