Your Stories Q&A: What happened to the blue mailboxes at Mattydale Post Office?

by: Ryan Dean

Posted: Aug 18, 2023 / 09:47 AM EDT

Updated: Aug 18, 2023 / 05:26 PM EDT

MATTYDALE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The Your Stories Team is being asked to solve another mailbox mystery.

Viewer Justin Karwatske emailed the YS Team, “Where did the blue mailboxes go at the Mattydale Post Office?”

The US Postal Inspection Service told the YS Team it received reports in June of possible mail theft from the blue collection boxes at the Mattydale branch, located at 1900 Brewerton Road.

USPS is in the process of replacing the old boxes with what it calls, “high security collection boxes.” No timetable was given for the new mailboxes to be installed.

According to a USPS news release from last spring, 12,000 high security mailboxes are being installed nationwide.

“The Postal Service is hardening blue collection boxes making access to their contents more difficult for criminals,” USPS said in a May release.

We were told that Mattydale is the only spot in the Syracuse area to get the new boxes.

The more secure boxes come at a time when mail theft appears to be on the rise.

“…The agency reported an increase in high volume mail theft incidents from mail receptacles including blue collection boxes: 38,500 in FY22 and more than 25,000 in the first half of FY23,” the release said.

Δ

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.