BROOKLYN — The United States Postal Service says there are 139,409 mail collection boxes on streets across the country.

But very few of them are currently in Brooklyn Heights.

“I had some stuff to mail on my way to the bank,” a lifelong Heights resident and local businessman who asked to remain unnamed told the Brooklyn Eagle Thursday. 

All of the collection boxes along his usual route had disappeared. “The mailbox at Joralemon and Willow Place was gone. The box at Hicks Street and Grace Court Alley, Montague and Hicks streets, Henry and Montague streets, mid-block Montague between Henry and Clinton streets.”

“I walked to the main Post Office and asked a gentleman at the counter why all the boxes were gone. He called a supervisor, who told me that because of the number of thefts in Brooklyn Heights, USPS is replacing them with more secure mailboxes,” he said. 

“I would hope they would be more secure, as a number of people, including myself, have had their mail stolen and checks forged for cash,” he said. “One time, I had a $10,000 check forged.” 

He added, “It’s unfortunate that this is occurring and deplorable that it is taking the Post Office this long to solve a very serious problem.”

Another long-time resident, now retired, told the Eagle that large checks had been robbed from his mail on a number of occasions — even when deposited at the actual Post Office in Downtown Brooklyn. “Now I use UPS,” he said.

It’s even more disappointing to him because, he said, “As a young college student in Bay Ridge, I delivered mail for the Post Office …We used to have the best Postal Service in the world. I certainly don’t feel the same way today.”

A 2023 Brooklyn Eagle investigation of U.S. Postal Service mail collection boxes in Brooklyn Heights found most were regularly coated with a sticky adhesive used by thieves using glue boards to “fish” mail out of the boxes. Many of those boxes have been removed.

USPS: The collection boxes are being ‘hardened’

USPS and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are removing collection boxes in high postal-crime areas and “hardening” them, making access to their contents more difficult for criminals, the sister agencies said in a release upon last year’s launch of “Project Safe Delivery.”

Twelve thousand hardened blue boxes and 49,000 electronic locking mechanisms are being “strategically deployed,” USPS said in a release. The project kicked off in May 2023 in response to rising mail theft and an increase in attacks on letter carriers. 

The electronic locks will replace “antiquated” Arrow Locks. “Criminals are targeting letter carriers for their Arrow and Modified Arrow Lock (MAL) Keys. Criminals use Arrow and MAL keys to steal mail from secure mail receptacles to commit financial crimes, including altering checks to commit check fraud,” USPS said.

USPS did not respond to a request for the schedule of the replacement of the boxes in Brooklyn Heights by press time; check back for updates.

It’s happening everywhere

Theft of mailed U.S. Treasury checks, including Social Security and U.S. tax refunds, is “rampant,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge) wrote in a joint  Aug. 27 letter with Missouri Republican Jason Smith to the U.S. Treasury and USPS Inspectors General. 

These checks “never make it to the payee but instead are stolen in transit and cashed by thieves,” Malliotakis said. Adding insult to injury, “The current process to reissue these checks is long, tedious and is costing American taxpayers millions of dollars.”

It’s a nationwide issue. In February 2023, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an alert to financial institutions to be vigilant in identifying and reporting mail theft-related check fraud in light of a “nationwide surge in check fraud schemes targeting the U.S. Mail.” 

In April 2023, Malliotakis and Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) introduced the bipartisan USPS Subpoena Authority Act, which would strengthen USPS’ ability to crack down on criminal organizations driving mail theft by allowing administrative subpoenas. With these subpoenas, USPS could collect more information related to the financial fraud associated with mail theft, including bank records and surveillance videos.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-Western Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan), who represents Brooklyn Heights, was a co-sponsor of the bill. Since taking office in January 2023, his office has received “numerous complaints regarding mail theft, including New Yorkers having their paychecks, credit cards and medical documentation stolen from their mailboxes,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle in April 2023. 

Not all coming back

Some Brooklyn Heights mailboxes won’t be coming back, Goldman’s office said in a November e-blast.

“Upon investigation with the United States Postal Service, my team and I have learned that several collection boxes have been removed due to recent mail theft and tampering-related incidents reported by the United States Postal Inspection Service. Unfortunately, these boxes will not be replaced; however, there are alternative locations within a 1-3 block range replacing each mailbox that was removed.”

Postal customers are encouraged to report stolen mail as soon as possible by submitting an online complaint to the Postal Inspection Service at www.uspis.gov/report or by calling 877-876-2455.

Below is a list of the ZIP code, removal location and replacement location of each collection box in the 11201 area provided by Rep. Dan Goldman:

• 11201, 130 Hicks Street, 101 Clark Street
• 11201, 141 Columbia Heights, 124 Columbia Heights
• 11201, 160 Henry Street, 84 Montague Street
• 11201, 253 Hicks Street, 2 Willow Place
• 11201, 35 Orange Street, 124 Columbia Heights
• 11201, 43 Pierrepont Street, 84 Montague Street
• 11201, 125 Montague Street, 84 Montague Street
• 11201, 100 Henry Street, 101 Clark Street
• 11201, 253 Henry Street / Corner of Henry & Joralemon streets, 99 Remsen Street