Bed-Stuy Post Office Is 'Proof God Hates You,' Residents Say

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — The most hated place in Bed-Stuy may be the Brevoort Station Post Office, whose "Soup Nazi" employees have been refusing to deliver packages and sometimes scaring customers for more than 30 years.

As one Yelp reviewer put it, "There IS a God and he HATES you because THIS is your post office!"

Despite residents' numerous complaints on social media and to the United States Post Office, the Brevoort Station Post Office at 1205 Atlantic Ave. remains a place that continually provokes outrage and despair.

Jen Sarantakis, 44, runs an interior design firm from her Quincy street apartment and depends on timely deliveries to keep her business afloat, she said. But for more than two years her packages have either been left exposed on the street or not delivered at all.

“Coming from a business standpoint, I wish I had known this previous to renting the unit,” said Sarantakis of her local post office’s poor service. “If I had the money I’d move.”

Sarantakis has tried calling the Brevoort Station Post Office, filing complaints with the USPS, and even chasing down her mail carrier and begging him to ring her doorbell when he delivers her packages. Meanwhile, she has found packages stuffed behind her garbage cans, a deposit check worth about $50,000 sitting outside her front door and a huge mini trampoline at the bottom of her stoop.

“I’m a petite person,” said Sarantakis, who stands four-foot-nine. “Somebody could have walked off with this huge package, and I had to figure out how to get it up my steps.”

Sarantakis’ downstairs neighbor, Christophe, added that their mail is frequently left on top of the mailbox — out on the street — and that Saturday deliveries are few and far between.

Yelpers confirm Sarantakis’ poor opinion of the Brevoort Station Post Office.

“There was a guy in here shouting disgusting racial slurs, talking loudly (on the phone) about obscene topics, and he asked a woman behind me if she was selling her body,” Sherri N. posted on Sept. 5. “The USPS workers did NOTHING to kick this guy out. Everyone felt uncomfortable and unsafe with him there.”

Julie N. added, “My local postman sometimes shows up reeking of booze, or openly smoking pot, and sometimes loiters in my lobby getting into a screaming match with someone on his cell phone."

But Kate M. warns residents not to complain at the post office, or risk what she calls “Soup Nazi” treatment. She writes there are “tales of destinations being surreptitiously ‘blacklisted’ and then never receiving their mail again!”

Out of 130 reviews, 118 give the post office just one star, about 30 complain of lost packages and about 20 complain mail carriers leaving “sorry we missed you” notices without ringing the doorbell. Three reviewers said mail carriers leave notices because they just don’t bring the package with them to be delivered.

“I caught our mail person in the act,” wrote Maria V, describing the mail carrier leaving a notice without a package in sight. “ “[It] would explain why they never leave my package. She never picks it up.”

“I've literally had my security cameras running,” Christopher W. wrote. “They just pre filled a slip and dropped it off for me to pickup!”

Alex E. added, “I've witnessed my carrier deliver my mail, including the notice, with absolutely NO darn package to be seen.”

Sarantakis shared her story on the BedStuy Friends Facebook group in hopes of rallying some outrage. And while several people confirmed her concerns about Brevoort Station, they offered little hope of change.

“It's small consolation,” wrote Suzanne Spellen, “but they've been horrible for over 30 years.”

A USPS spokesman said in a statement that the Brevoort Station Post Office has been made aware of concerns and "will ensure that employees follow proper delivery and customer service protocol."

He added that customers with delivery service issues can contact Triboro District Consumer Affairs at (718) 348-3900.

Photo courtesy of Google Maps/Nov. 2016