Mail Found Thrown Away In Dumpster In New Rochelle
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Some pieces of mail in New Rochelle never found their way to their destination, ending up instead in a dumpster.
As CBS2's Jessica Borg reported, a regular and unassuming dumpster stands in the loading dock area of the New Rochelle Post Office. But images taken of its interior speak volumes.
A concerned citizen snapped the pictures showing hundreds of pieces of illegally discarded mail. One was a letter from a college to a resident on Sickles Avenue, while another was addressed to Nilda Del Valle Heller and her husband.
"Yep, that's definitely mine," Del Valle Heller said.
She was shocked that a notice from a local charity they donate to never made it to their home.
"It just makes me think that someone isn't doing their job," Del Valle Miller said.
One of the pieces of mail found in the dumpster was addressed to Trump Plaza on Huguenot Street -- right across the street from the Post Office.
So, why aren't carriers delivering the mail? There is one main theory, according to local publisher Robert Cox.
"They're under tremendous pressure to complete the route and return back to the post office within a certain time period and if they can't do that by delivery of the mail, they have other ways to do it, like not delivering the mail."
George B. Flood, a spokesman for the United States Postal Service, said the agency is now investigating "compliance with postal regulations... related to the proper handling of undeliverable-as-addressed mail."
But there is no way of telling if the mail in the dumpster could not be delivered in the first place.
Longtime resident John Benjamin said he is complained about missing mail in the past, and he has a simple solution.
"I don't know if they have inspectors, but somebody has to be looking in a dumpster or should be looking in the dumpster every night," he said.
Anyone who believes their mail is being illegally discarded should contact the office of the postal inspector general.