The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which led to security enhancements throughout the U.S. Postal Service, also factored in the reduction.

But postal officials don’t expect the boxes to go away completely any time soon. The placement of mailboxes has followed migration patterns, they said, with boxes placed in new suburban subdivisions and removed from, for example, outside businesses that have closed or had extensive job cuts, such as some Eastman Kodak Co. buildings.

"It doesn’t mean less access, just different access," said Karen Mazurkiewicz, communications coordinator for the postal service’s western New York region, covering the Rochester and Buffalo areas. "But there’s no doubt about the (decline) in single-piece, first-class mail. People just don’t mail letters like they used to, or mail bills like they used to. They pay more online."

That’s not the case with Peter James of Henrietta. But he still doesn’t use mailboxes.

"I don’t leave my mail for the postman to pick up, I go to the post office," said James, who stopped at the Brighton post office on South Clinton Avenue last week. "The pickup times are more convenient. And I don’t pay bills online. So my mailing habits haven’t changed."

Joanne Schneider of Rochester said she uses e-mail and the telephone to contact friends and family.

"My mail is usually cards, like birthday cards, and sometimes, bills," said Schneider, who also was at the Brighton post office. "I tend not to use the boxes. They’re usually not in my line of travel."

Dave Garbe of Greece said he doesn’t use mailboxes. When he does need to send mail, he takes it directly to a post office.

"I know it will be picked up (properly) there," said Garbe, of North Autumn Drive. "I’ve heard of people stealing mail, or firebombing mailboxes. I’m worried about that, in these days of identity theft. And stamps are getting more and more expensive. I’d rather e-mail people."

Suburban numbers

In the Rochester area — ZIP codes starting with "146," which includes Brighton, Chili, Gates, Greece and Irondequoit — the number of mailboxes dropped from 635 in 2001 to 598 this year, said Donna Hennessey, customer relations coordinator for Rochester branches of the postal service. Information for local suburban areas was not easily available because the postal service lumps communities into ZIP code areas. Officials said they did not immediately have the breakdowns by town.

Suburban areas with ZIP codes starting with "144" and "145" have 438 mailboxes, roughly evenly split, Mazurkiewicz said. She said she did not have the figures from previous years but said the decrease was minimal.

"If we lose about 20 boxes per year, that’s about average," she said.

One reason those suburban communities are hard to track: ZIP code areas were arranged alphabetically, not geographically, she said. That means ZIP codes starting with "144" cover communities including Brockport, East Rochester, Henrietta and Honeoye Falls, but they also extend to communities such as Dansville, Livingston County. ZIP codes starting with "145" include Mendon, Penfield, and Webster, but also extend as far as away as Penn Yan in Yates County and Waterport in Orleans County.

Security concerns

So what happened to the mailboxes? In Rochester, two were removed recently because they had no mail deposited for four months, and another was eliminated because vandals had deposited hazardous materials in the mailbox, Hennessey said.

She would not identify the locations of those mailboxes or explain what kind of materials were left in the other one. But those are the kind of incidents the postal service has kept a closer eye on since the 2001 terrorist attacks, Hennessey said.

"Things were pretty laid back for us until 9/11," Hennessey said. "But that and the anthrax scares threw us into a tailspin. We realized how easily accessible (mailboxes) are. There’s definitely more scrutiny about the utilization and vandalism of mailboxes. … If a box does not get used, we do not leave it there."

Cameron Whitmore, who oversees post office operations for the "144" and "145" ZIP code areas, said that’s done for security reasons.

"It’s gotten to the point where we’ve reviewed all the boxes," he said. "By identifying mailboxes that are underused and removing them, that’s one less way to contaminate the mail stream."

Speaking of contamination: Whitmore said postal officials make every effort to clean and deliver mail that has been contaminated by vandals.

"We do get some interesting things in mailboxes," he said. "Sometimes, you might see that someone has thrown a container of milk in a box. That’s not a hazardous material, but now you’ve got a bunch of mail that’s soaked."

Via the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle