NY Post reports to be aware – of your mailbox. NYPD cops are on an all-out blitz to get people to think twice before using blue postal boxes because of the crime they invite.
“Don’t be a victim. Take you mail into the post office don’t use the mailbox,” the Upper West Side’s 24th Precinct wrote in a tweet that was deleted Tuesday afternoon.
The tweet included an image of a blue postal box, a fishing rod snatching an envelope and the words, “Mailbox Fishing Leads to Check Washing.”
An NYPD spokeswoman said the post wasn’t in response to anything in particular. In recent months there have been incidents in that area and further uptown of thieves fishing out envelopes to cash checks and money orders.
“That was posted as a general information,” Sgt. Jessica McRorie said. “There’s wasn’t anything specifically going on in the precinct. It was a general tip. It’s just a general awareness that it’s been happening.”
A police source added that it wasn’t their intention to suggest people shouldn’t use the blue boxes at all — just to be aware that crooks can fish out their mail.
Two weeks ago, the same precinct told letter senders on Twitter that if they need to use a box, they should deposit their mail “as close to the scheduled pick-up time as possible.”
Crooks typically use a material coated in glue and tied to string to pull the mail out.
Last year, the Bronx post office got rid of more than 100 boxes, which were supposed to be replaced with new ones that have narrow slots. Other neighborhoods in Upper Manhattan have seen some of their mailboxes retrofitted with slots that fit standard envelopes, DNA Info reported.
In November, a thief in Harlem swiped $56,000 in checks that a local homeless advocacy group had put in a box.
The USPS did not respond to a request for comment.
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