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In NYC you MUST register with USPS, UPS, and FedEx for delivery notifications. Delivery folks won't even bother ringing your bell and will often skip getting th

In NYC you MUST register with USPS, UPS, and FedEx for delivery notifications. Delivery folks won't even bother ringing your bell and will often skip getting the signature even if it's required because they face constant pressure to deliver more in less time from the company. You need the electronic notification to know it's there and you need to get there immediately as thieves will follow delivery trucks/personnel around the neighborhood, stealing after each delivery.

jrockway 6y ago
That hasn't been my experience. Everyone rings the bell except the USPS, who has a key to let themselves in. Many years ago, something being shipped by Lasership means you'd never get it, but they seem to have improved on that front. Anecdotal but I don't think packages get stolen in my neighborhood. I occasionally read Nextdoor and it never comes up. And my neighbors complain about everything.
- JohnTHaller 6y ago
  It happens in my neighborhood regularly. It gets talked about on Nextdoor and on our subreddit often as well. It varies by block. Ours has been better lately but was a lot worse mid-2020.
nobody9999 6y ago
>In NYC you MUST register with USPS, UPS, and FedEx for delivery notifications That's just not true. As long as you have a tracking number, you can get delivery notifications without registering simply by requesting them on the relevant websites. I do that all the time. >You need the electronic notification to know it's there and you need to get there immediately as thieves will follow delivery trucks/personnel around the neighborhood, stealing after each delivery. That may happen where you live, but where I live (10025), that's not even close to the truth. There are often at least a half-dozen packages in my lobby (no doorman) at any given time and package theft is rare. We had a problem with that a few years back, but when I called the police and then loudly told the likely perpetrators (and reminded them about the video cameras in the lobby), that stopped pretty quickly. Want to do the same? Here's a shocking idea -- talk to your neighbors. Make sure there's surveillance (not that invasive Amazon Ring stuff) where packages are left, and make sure folks know they're being watched. What's more, it would only take one person to be arrested (because the thieves are likely people you see every single day) for this to make it stop in your building. Having a community makes a difference. Perhaps you should try it sometime?
- JohnTHaller 6y ago
  > Having a community makes a difference. Perhaps you should try it sometime? I'm familiar with the 'it doesn't affect me so you must be doing something wrong' attitude. And the dig about me not having a community... was that necessary? Citywide package theft rates are up. Calling the police only works in a district that effectively deals with it. We don't bother in our neighborhood anymore because the police don't do anything about it. Most folks in my neighborhood have no lobby at all and the packages are left on their doorstep. Our "lobby" is large enough to open the outer door into and that's about it. It has no security, nor can we get any as our building owner doesn't want to deal with it. And I know my neighbors. They knew when we recovered from Covid-19 so we could help them with stuff since we had antibodies. They know I have Naloxone if any of them have an opioid emergency. And the super knows I have more tools than him so he can borrow them when he needs to. I helped him with the recycling the other day because his back was out. Remember, not everyone has the same experience as you and not everyone has the same resources at their disposal as you.
  - nobody9999 6y ago
    >I'm familiar with the 'it doesn't affect me so you must be doing something wrong' attitude. And the dig about me not having a community... was that necessary? I apparently didn't express myself very clearly, as I wasn't blaming you (or anyone other than the thieves) for anything. What's more, talking about creating community wasn't a dig at you either. If I came across that way, please accept my apologies. The primary points I wanted to make (as they were apparently obscured by my prose) were: 1. Most folks who are going to be stealing packages are those who live in your neighborhood, and if you've lived there a while, you probably have at least an inkling as to who those folks are. 2. Working with your neighbors to make sure those folks (accusations are unnecessary) are aware that people are watching and willing to take action (it's not really important whether or not the police actually do anything proactive, but that they will be involved and evidence in the form of video will be available) when such activity occurs. >Remember, not everyone has the same experience as you and not everyone has the same resources at their disposal as you. That's true in so many ways. I'd point out that the problem in my building was successfully addressed without the cooperation of the building management (in fact, they posted a sign in the lobby stating that they will take absolutely no responsibility for any thefts). Rather it was done by specifically addressing the issue with those most likely responsible for the thefts. Whether or not that can or will be successful everywhere is questionable. However, it's better than doing nothing IMHO. I am most certainly not implying that you (or anyone else) are "doing nothing." Edit: Fixed subject/verb number disagreement.
pid_0 6y ago
I seriously just cannot understand why anyone would live in NYC. It just seems like so much WORK.

jrockway 6y ago

That hasn't been my experience. Everyone rings the bell except the USPS, who has a key to let themselves in. Many years ago, something being shipped by Lasership means you'd never get it, but they seem to have improved on that front. Anecdotal but I don't think packages get stolen in my neighborhood. I occasionally read Nextdoor and it never comes up. And my neighbors complain about everything.

JohnTHaller 6y ago
It happens in my neighborhood regularly. It gets talked about on Nextdoor and on our subreddit often as well. It varies by block. Ours has been better lately but was a lot worse mid-2020.

nobody9999 6y ago

>In NYC you MUST register with USPS, UPS, and FedEx for delivery notifications That's just not true. As long as you have a tracking number, you can get delivery notifications without registering simply by requesting them on the relevant websites. I do that all the time. >You need the electronic notification to know it's there and you need to get there immediately as thieves will follow delivery trucks/personnel around the neighborhood, stealing after each delivery. That may happen where you live, but where I live (10025), that's not even close to the truth. There are often at least a half-dozen packages in my lobby (no doorman) at any given time and package theft is rare. We had a problem with that a few years back, but when I called the police and then loudly told the likely perpetrators (and reminded them about the video cameras in the lobby), that stopped pretty quickly. Want to do the same? Here's a shocking idea -- talk to your neighbors. Make sure there's surveillance (not that invasive Amazon Ring stuff) where packages are left, and make sure folks know they're being watched. What's more, it would only take one person to be arrested (because the thieves are likely people you see every single day) for this to make it stop in your building. Having a community makes a difference. Perhaps you should try it sometime?

JohnTHaller 6y ago
> Having a community makes a difference. Perhaps you should try it sometime? I'm familiar with the 'it doesn't affect me so you must be doing something wrong' attitude. And the dig about me not having a community... was that necessary? Citywide package theft rates are up. Calling the police only works in a district that effectively deals with it. We don't bother in our neighborhood anymore because the police don't do anything about it. Most folks in my neighborhood have no lobby at all and the packages are left on their doorstep. Our "lobby" is large enough to open the outer door into and that's about it. It has no security, nor can we get any as our building owner doesn't want to deal with it. And I know my neighbors. They knew when we recovered from Covid-19 so we could help them with stuff since we had antibodies. They know I have Naloxone if any of them have an opioid emergency. And the super knows I have more tools than him so he can borrow them when he needs to. I helped him with the recycling the other day because his back was out. Remember, not everyone has the same experience as you and not everyone has the same resources at their disposal as you.
- nobody9999 6y ago
  >I'm familiar with the 'it doesn't affect me so you must be doing something wrong' attitude. And the dig about me not having a community... was that necessary? I apparently didn't express myself very clearly, as I wasn't blaming you (or anyone other than the thieves) for anything. What's more, talking about creating community wasn't a dig at you either. If I came across that way, please accept my apologies. The primary points I wanted to make (as they were apparently obscured by my prose) were: 1. Most folks who are going to be stealing packages are those who live in your neighborhood, and if you've lived there a while, you probably have at least an inkling as to who those folks are. 2. Working with your neighbors to make sure those folks (accusations are unnecessary) are aware that people are watching and willing to take action (it's not really important whether or not the police actually do anything proactive, but that they will be involved and evidence in the form of video will be available) when such activity occurs. >Remember, not everyone has the same experience as you and not everyone has the same resources at their disposal as you. That's true in so many ways. I'd point out that the problem in my building was successfully addressed without the cooperation of the building management (in fact, they posted a sign in the lobby stating that they will take absolutely no responsibility for any thefts). Rather it was done by specifically addressing the issue with those most likely responsible for the thefts. Whether or not that can or will be successful everywhere is questionable. However, it's better than doing nothing IMHO. I am most certainly not implying that you (or anyone else) are "doing nothing." Edit: Fixed subject/verb number disagreement.

pid_0 6y ago

I seriously just cannot understand why anyone would live in NYC. It just seems like so much WORK.