Angelina’s Cafe on 22nd & California. The mailbox used to sit next to the stop sign.
Angelina’s Cafe & Deli has been operating on the corner of 22nd Avenue and California for over 30 years. They cafe is a neighborhood hub, serving up sandwiches, coffee and soft serve ice cream to hundreds of people every week.
In April, owner Angie Rando was having the building painted when her contractor ran into the blue mailbox on the northeast corner with their scissor lift, damaging the box. The USPS came to remove the damaged box, and it’s been missing in action ever since.
Since the mailbox was removed, customers and residents have been remarking on its absence. Aside from providing a convenient place to drop mail, it seems the mailbox was an important civic icon on the block.
“We see customers walk over to the spot where the mailbox used to be, with letters in their hand. And they just sort of stand there looking shocked. When they get over the shock, they come in and ask us ‘Didn’t there used to be a mailbox there?'” Angie said.
Distressed at the loss of the mailbox, Angie sent her Special Projects Manager, Pauline, on a mission: to get the mailbox back.
Pauline started by visiting the nearest post office at 21st and Geary. They gave her a number to a postal supervisor but when she called it, no one answered – not even a voicemail.
So she went to the bigger post office at Geary and Parker. A supervisor there promised to email her with information but nothing ever came.
Undeterred, Pauline saw a postal carrier on her own block in the outer Richmond and asked him what she should do.
“Oh, you need to go down to 151 Mendell, that’s the USPS Carrier Annex,” the carrier told Pauline. So Pauline got in her car and drove down to the facility in the Bayview.
“The problem is that there’s no way to get into 151 Mendell,” an exasperated Pauline said after visiting last week. The massive building had no main entrance, windows or accessible doors.
She drove around and found a security guard, who suggested she go over to the post office on Evans a few blocks away. While at the Evans facility, she got a hold of a couple of phone numbers to call, but no names.
“I was not optimistic,” Pauline said about those numbers panning out. When she saw another postal carrier in the neighborhood, she detailed her mission and got some new advice.
“Start a petition, then send it certified mail to the Postmaster at Evans,” the carrier told her.
The carrier wasn’t very optimistic though, telling Pauline that overall, the USPS wants to reduce the number of mailboxes across the city.
If you visit Angelina’s, you’ll find the petition up by the front counter. When we stopped in, about 15 people had signed it.
“We’re hoping to get 200 signatures,” Pauline said.
Assuming they get the signatures from customers and residents, Pauline says her next challenge will be figuring out who to send it to and to what address. The only address she has for the Evans facility is a PO Box, and you can’t send a certified letter to a PO Box.
In short, Pauline is finding it nearly impossible to send a letter to the USPS.
“It would be nice if someone could help us, but we can’t seem to get a straight answer,” said owner Angie Rando.
We’ve started an online petition to help collect signatures. So if you’d like to see a mailbox back on the corner of 22nd and California, click here to sign it. Angelina’s will combine them with the signatures received in the cafe and submit them all to the Postmaster.
If they are successful in getting it back, it will truly be the people’s mailbox. Good luck, Angelina’s!
Sarah B.
With an attitude like that it’s not a mystery *why* USPS is losing money and customers.
How about bringing this to Supervisor Mar’s attention? His team should be able to get in touch with USPS to get the mailbox back.
The USPS Post Office at 21st & Geary is a disgrace. I’m sure this extends USPS wide but, the customer service there is atrocious and there is not an employee in the building who does not deserve to be fired and replaced with someone who cares even the tiniest bit about the job. So in short “good luck” trying to get any help on this point. It is rather akin to removing garbage cans to keep trash off the street: i.e. the “privatizaion murder” of the USPS
I’m not surprised she called and called without response. USPS in this city is a mess. They never pick up. If you go in with a complaint, they tell you that you need to speak to a supervisor, and that all the supervisors are somewhere else, and then they give you a number. No one ever picks up that phone.
There are at least two other good options for dealing with the USPS. One is to send the petition/compliant to the Postmaster General in Washington DC and the other is to send the petition/complaint to our local Congressperson, Nancy Pelosi. A Congressperson may not be able to always solve international political problems but she should be able to kick a little butt with the USPS. Pelosi would probably welcome the photo opportunity for her newsletter with the installation of the replacement blue box.
Yeah, good luck with that – the USPS is one of the most mismanaged institutions in the history of this country, tbh. But actually, good luck with that! I hope they get it back!
@Denise: Mar’s office doesn’t generally respond to things like this.
Ditto the other comments – I was trying to follow up on a missing USPS package & got the run-around of phone #’s…. and no one EVER ANSWERS any of the local phone numbers at local post offices or the Annex. I’d say try the Nancy Pelosi office before trying the Eric Mar office for help.
I read an article a few years ago that the USPS was systematically getting rid of mailboxes by tracking the amount of mail deposited in each box. Those that were barely used (I don’t remember the measurement scale) would be removed. After reading that, I take every piece of mail I have to my corner mailbox! The records (assuming they are really kept) would no doubt show the Angelina’s mailbox was popular and should be brought back based on data alone. Unfortunately, I suppose one has to actually reach someone first to find this info out…ugh.
Makes it harder for people to mail back their ballots during an election
There’s a complaint form on the USPS website; I’d suggest that Angelina’s and its neighbors use that rather than phone calls, etc. You’re dealing with a bureaucracy; a missed/ignored phone call leaves no track record while complaints from the website are likely to be tracked and recorded – someone’s job performance will be based off of solving those complaints.
I had issues when I had to move my apartment mailbox inside my security gate because people were stealing my mail, and phone calls did nothing. Using the complaint form on the website got me a response within 2-3 days.
@John – Thanks, we’ve submitted a request. Fingers crossed.
Excellent article, lots of valid points made!
Excellent comments too.
Walk two blocks and get some exercise.
I grew up on 22nd Avenue. That mailbox has been there for decades.
Its a shame it’s gone. I’ll sign the petition. Thanks Pauline!
Any updates on this??
@Amanda – Angelina’s did hear from someone in USPS Public Affairs so fingers crossed this gets us a step closer to having the mailbox back!