People in the Bronx are complaining about painfully long wait times at their local post office as lines sometimes go out the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The United States Postal Service says delays at the Morrisania post office are due to “a significant number of packages” that could not safely be left at homes.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, CBS News New York saw multiple people changing their minds and deciding not to even go inside once they saw the line.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
“Two and a half hours for a stamp!”<\/p>\n
Residents said a trip to the East 167th Street post office is anything but a quick errand these days, with some complaining about waiting five hours for a package and only one or two clerks helping out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I have to wait two and a half hours for a stamp! It’s ridiculous,” Raymond Cioffi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s probably the worst post office I have been in,” businessowner Frank Farrell said. “If this was in a different zip code, it wouldn’t be like this.”\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
Video shows chaos there last week, when signs said packages could not be picked up until the afternoon and some people said their packages were lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Inside, it’s all messed up,” Alberto Virs said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I don’t want to come back here ever again,” Andres Lopez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another resident shared a video of when police were called after frustrated customers got heated over the long wait. \u00a0<\/p>\n
USPS explanation doesn’t add up, customers say<\/p>\n
Many customers said long waits have been an issue at the Morrisania post office for quite some time, but the problem has been piling up in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The recent increase in lobby traffic is due to a significant number of packages that were brought back to the office,” USPS spokesperson Xavier Hernandez said in a statement to CBS News New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said the packages could not safely be left at homes, but some customers argued the explanation does not add up with what they’re being told at the counter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They were telling us that packages were sent to Soundview,” Ebony Johnson said. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s horrible.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said the post office has added staff to assist customers and help reduce overall wait times. They expected traffic to normalize soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n