Park Slope Residents Take On Postal Service Over Parking Spots
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - An ongoing battle between some residents in Brooklyn and their local post office has intensified and crossed over into vandalism.
An angry message has been delivered to the United States Postal Service in Park Slope: No parking on our street.
Residents living near the Van Brunt post office on 9th Street say they are so sick of post office trucks parking on the residential street behind the facility. The trucks take a precious, hard-to-find public parking spot, even though the post office has its own private lot for the trucks.
On Wednesday morning, a post office truck was spray painted with graffiti demanding "No parking on 8 street."
Residents say the parking battle has been going on for almost a year now, and it is especially bad at night, CBS2's Scott Rapoport reported. They say you will find as many as 12 of the trucks parked on the street, instead of in the lot.
"We have so few parking spaces as is, and then there trucks take up a spot and a half per truck at least. So yeah, it's really, really frustrating," said resident Rachel Dixon. "I think it's horrible to deface property... I understand the frustration of the person that did it."
One driver who didn't want to be identified told Rapoport it happens, but drivers have no choice because there's no room in the lot for all the trucks.
The USPS told Rapoport growing demand in the area means it now needs 22 vehicles to properly serve the community, which exceeds the number of parking spaces in the lot. As for purchasing new lots for the trucks? The USPS says it is "unfeasible due to a host of variables."
"If all the trucks don't fit in the parking lot, they should find somewhere else for them to be, not taking up spots that residents need," Dixon said.
As for the graffiti on the truck, the USPS says criminal acts of vandalism are unacceptable and will be investigated by law enforcement.
