Blue Mailboxes Removed In Port Richmond: Community Relies On Regular US Mail More Than Other Staten Island Zip Codes

January 18, 2025 Staten Islander News Service Staff Writer 0 American Culture, Charity, Civil Rights, Commuting Around SI and NYC, Culture, Digital life, Economy And Finances, Equality, Local Voices, Media and Communication, Morality and Ethics, New York City News, News, Politics, SI Communities, Staten Island Culture, Staten Island Families, Staten Island News, Staten Island Transportation, Staten Island Workers, Staten Islander Exclusive, Staten Islander Videos

Due to the ethnic and cultural diversity of the community of Port Richmond, there are more residents in the area that do use the US Postal Service in order to communicate with their relatives. While they may have internet access themselves, the recipients of their messages only have access to regular mail. As mentioned during the press conference, 1 out of 4 residents in the zip code of 10302 utilize regular mail, but they also work. The leave for their jobs before the post office locations open for the day, and they return after the post offices have closed. Many of these individuals also work on Saturdays and sometimes Sundays.

While there are still some zip codes on the island that have blue mailboxes, there is not one in the entire area of 10302. This means that residents wanting to mail a letter than has regular first class postage affixed that would fit into the blue mailboxes have to walk over a mile to the closest blue mailbox.

During the press conference, Mario mentioned that they placed cameras by the blue mailboxes in several other neighborhoods, and each neighborhood had a few people use it, whereas in 10314, no one used the box in the whole seven day period.

They also had high school students provide a survey to residents in each area, where they asked if they used internet or postal mail to communicate with other people. In most of the other areas, 7 out of 10 people used the internet, whereas in 10302, only four out of every ten residents surveyed used the internet. Similarly, the number of people in the area that used the postal service to communicate was much higher in 10302.

The group is asking, primarily, for the blue collection boxes that were stationed just outside of the Port Richmond Post Office location to be reinstalled. This location could easily have cameras installed to watch the boxes.

The video of the press conference should be available by Monday, and this article will be updated at that time.

The following is from Mario at Port Richmond Strong/ North Shore Alliance:

We are also dealing and addressing issues US Mailboxes; The lack of Mailboxes in 10302.

Currently we have ZERO mailboxes available at anytime within our community.

We are having a press conference on Thursday morning at 11:00AM regarding the lack of US mailboxes in the Port Richmond Community.

We learned of staggering Data in which is troubling.

We accuse the United States Postal Service of Discrimination practices against the residents of Port Richmond.!