Westbard Square U.S. Post Office update

Another sign has been installed at the new U.S. Post Office at 5364 Westbard Avenue at Westbard Square in Bethesda. The lighted blade sign was already lit up last night, much like the previously-installed main sign over the storefront. This post office was meant to replace the one demolished on Arlington Road, albeit a decade behind schedule. Will it open in time to mail your ballot for the election? Stay tuned!

Signage installed at new Westbard U.S. Post Office in Bethesda (Photos)

The sign is up at the new United States Post Office at the Westbard Square development at 5400 Westbard Avenue in Bethesda. Operating hours and other information have been applied to the front windows. The post office will not be open on weekends, but the P.O. Box lobby (see my photos from last Friday) will be open 24 hours Monday through Saturday. This is a "finance unit," which means that it provides United States Postal Service services and accepts mail, but does not provide delivery.

Sneak peek: Westbard Square U.S. Post Office in Bethesda (Photos)

Here's a sneak peek at the interior of the new U.S. Post Office opening soon at the new Westbard Square development in Bethesda. A decade after it promised to open a post office in 20816 to serve customers displaced by the closure of the Arlington Road post office, the United States Postal Service is about to "deliver." This will actually be more convenient for postal customers in the Westbard area than Arlington Road was, except for not having drive-up mailboxes, a major loss. The post office has a corner spot by the parking garage entrance of the Giant building, facing Westbard Avenue.

USPS leases space at Westbard Square for new Bethesda post office

The other shoe has dropped from one of Bethesda's biggest scandals of more than a decade ago. When the United States Postal Service announced it would close both of its downtown Bethesda post offices, and sell the properties to developers, Montgomery County elected officials were conspicuously silent and failed to intervene. At the time, a USPS official announced that the agency would open a new downtown post office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue, and a second one in the 20816 zip code. The 6900 Wisconsin post office did open, albeit with no convenient or handicapped-accessible parking, and now the 20816 post office is finally in the works.

The newest post office will be at the Westbard Square development at 5400 Westbard Avenue. USPS has leased a corner space on the ground level of the Giant building at the new development. The post office will be next to Silver & Sons BBQ. Previous prospective Westbard developer Equity One had promised a post office in its redevelopment plan for the site, but current property owner Regency Centers is finally delivering on it.

USPS rolls out latest attempt at theft-proof mailbox in downtown Bethesda (Photos)

The United States Postal Service is beginning to install its latest effort toward a theft-proof mailbox in downtown Bethesda. This one was just placed at the intersection of Cordell and Norfolk Avenues in the Woodmont Triangle, and is the first one I have noticed. It does not have a door you pull open, only a slot. To get your envelope into the slot successfully, as the Joker once said, "all it takes is a little push." The new boxes will only defeat attempts to fish mail out of the box, and won't stop the more aggressive crooks who steal or buy the keys to them, as long as the USPS continues to use their skeleton "arrow keys."

USPS to remove mailbox in 7500 block of Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda

The United States Postal Service has announced it intends to remove the mailbox outside 7514 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda on November 23, 2023. A sticker announcing the planned removal was attached to the mailbox yesterday. It does not cite a reason for the removal of this particular mailbox. However, it provides a phone number to call, if you would like to contest the plan to remove it: 301-767-1742.

Removal of USPS mailboxes has been a controversial topic, since I first started writing about them many years ago. Arguments change, but the level of controversy remains the same. When the USPS began removing Bethesda neighborhood mailboxes in places like Sumner, my reports generated a few critical comments from people who said, "nobody uses mailboxes anymore." My reports on thefts from Bethesda and Chevy Chase mailboxes proved that theory wrong, as numerous residents reported having their mail stolen and checks washed. Finally, when mailboxes across the country began disappearing in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, many Americans and news outlets declared this a conspiracy masterminded by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to deter the return of ballots by mail. It turns out that mailboxes are still important after all!

Mailbox theft in Bethesda

Postal pirates are still on the prowl in Bethesda. A reader found this mailbox at Beech Avenue and Montgomery Drive open and cleaned out yesterday morning, March 8, 2023, and no mail inside. This is on the Bethesda Trolley Trail, and near the YMCA and Bethesda Country Day School. 

If you placed a check in this mailbox recently, or any others nearby that might be opened with the same key, you may want to monitor your bank transactions in the coming weeks. Thieves who rob, steal or buy the arrow keys that open mailboxes have a way to chemically remove writing from checks, allowing them to alter the Pay to the Order of name and dollar amount. The United States Postal Service has advised that you place checks into mailboxes as close as possible to the pickup time printed on the box.

Mail carrier robbed at knifepoint in Chevy Chase

Montgomery County police responded to a report of a robbery in broad daylight on one of the most elite streets in Chevy Chase yesterday, August 16, 2022. The robbery was reported in the 4300 block of Bradley Lane at 12:29 PM. WJLA-7 News reports that the victim was a United States Postal Service mail carrier, and that the robber used a pocket knife as a weapon. The mail carrier was not injured, but the male suspect - estimated to be in his twenties - fled the scene with the mail carrier's "bookbag" in a grey sedan with tinted windows, that police said might be a Lexus.

Another USPS mail carrier robbed at gunpoint in Bethesda

For the second time in three weeks, a United States Postal Service mail carrier in our area has been robbed at gunpoint. Montgomery County police responded to a report of an armed robbery in the 4600 block of Chase Avenue in Bethesda at 12:13 PM yesterday afternoon, according to crime data. WJLA-7 News reports that the victim was a mail carrier, and that property was taken by the robber.

Police have not specified what the property was. In the Friendship Heights armed robbery on May 25, the gunman took the mail carrier's arrow key. That is a master key that opens all of the mailboxes in a particular area, which has allowed thieves to steal checks from mail and alter the payable-to and check amount to redirect funds to themselves. Robbery of these keys from mail carriers, and black market selling of the keys by corrupt USPS employees in some cases, is becoming an increasingly-common crime in many states.

Here in Bethesda, the problem of theft from mailboxes has been a significant issue since at least early 2021. No serious effort has been made by USPS to deter the thefts, or to identify the thieves using cameras. One of the targeted mailboxes from the beginning has been right in front of the USPS' own post office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda.

Bethesda named the most voter-friendly city in America, Gaithersburg is #18

Amid a national debate over policies that make it easier or harder to vote, Bethesda is in the enviable position of just having been declared the most voter-friendly city in America. A study by the website Insurify found that voting is easier in Bethesda than any other city in America due to its United States Postal Service availability (number of post offices, USPS services per capita, and number of mailboxes), its historical voter turnout, and the quality of the infrastructure for voting absentee or by mail.

Gaithersburg was the other city in Montgomery County to make the list, at #18. Columbia was the only other Maryland town to appear on the list. Bethesda was the only city on the list to earn an A+ grade from the study's authors.

Thefts from USPS mailboxes continue in Bethesda

The United States Postal Service remains unable to stop the ongoing problem of mail being stolen out of its iconic blue mailboxes across Bethesda this year. Among the latest victims are residents who mailed checks in mailboxes in Kenwood Park and Glen Echo. Checks destined for government tax offices were stolen, altered, and then cashed by criminals. 

USPS officials have placed stickers on at least some mailboxes in Bethesda advising customers to drop mail into them as close to the collection time as possible. They have not commented on how thieves have managed to retrieve letters from the Bethesda mailboxes. Based on incidents in other cities, thieves obtain the "arrow key" master keys that open all USPS boxes in a particular area either through accomplices who work at USPS, or by robbing postal carriers of them. USPS mailboxes also remain vulnerable to "fishing" tactics, despite attempts to alter the box designs to foil envelope anglers.

USPS advises against dropping mail into mailboxes after collection time, as Bethesda mail thefts persist

Having failed so far to stop thefts of checks from mailboxes in Bethesda and Chevy Chase this year, the United States Postal Service has begun placing warning stickers on mailboxes in the area. The mailbox pictured above at the corner of Maple Ridge Road and Old Georgetown Road, just south of Congregation Beth El, sports one of the labels on its flap.

I have not heard directly of any thefts of mail from this particular mailbox so far, but the sticker reads, "For the security of your mail, avoid putting mail in the collection box after the last posted pick-up time." Pick-up time for this mailbox is early, 11:00 AM. 

The sticker bears the logo of the United States Postal Inspection Service, and a contact phone number where mailbox tampering can be reported: 1-877-876-2455. It adds, "If you see someone tampering with the collection box, notify the U.S. Postal Inspection Service."

While the advice seems a bit open-ended if taken literally - there's a whole 24 hour period between collection times that is technically after the last posted pick-up time - a common sense interpretation would be to drop in your mail as close to the collection time as possible. 

Unspoken on the sticker is the matter of how the envelopes are being retrieved from the mailboxes. What time you mail your check is irrelevant if the thief possesses the "arrow key" that opens all the mailboxes in the area, as was the case in some cities. Other thieves use old-fashioned "fishing" methods. USPS has a new mailbox model designed to foil such tactics, but it, too, failed to stop the mysterious thefts in a New Jersey pilot test.

Mail still being stolen from Bethesda Post Office mailbox

Bethesda residents are reporting that valuable checks are still being fished out of the mailbox in front of the U.S. Post Office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue. A resident wrote on a local listserv that a check mailed in that box to pay a gas bill was stolen, altered, and cashed for $5000 from that checking account. Four other checks mailed to pay bills at the same time never arrived at their destinations.

Another resident replied that the same thing happened to her. A third resident noted that a friend had a similar experience after placing a hefty check in a Chevy Chase Village mailbox. 

Postal customers reported a similar rash of thefts from Bethesda and Chevy Chase area mailboxes in January. How does it happen? In other cities, it was found that thieves either robbed mail carriers of the master key that opens all mailboxes in a particular area, or corrupt USPS employees had sold those "arrow keys" to thieves for profit.

If you experience a similar theft, call Montgomery County police at 301-279-8000. Secondly, file a complaint with the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Mail disappearing from Bethesda mailboxes

The check is in the mail...until it isn't. Residents from downtown Bethesda, Edgemoor and Chevy Chase who have mailed checks in USPS mailboxes are reporting on neighborhood message boards (and to the appropriate authorities) that some of those checks are being stolen. Criminals have altered the checks, and then cashed them, they say. 

The iconic blue mailboxes are designed to make it nearly impossible to fish letters out of them via normal means. That's led some to ask if the increasing theft from boxes in Edgemoor, Battery Lane and even in front of the Post Office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue could be an "inside job."

According to investigations in the Philadelphia area following a string of similar thefts there, the answer could be, "yes," or, "sort of."  USPS "arrow keys" are master skeleton keys that can open all mailboxes in a specific area, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported yesterday.

The USPS Inspector General issued a report that warned that once-tight oversight of access to these keys has deteriorated in recent years, the Inquirer discovered. In Philadelphia, for example, a post office employee stole one of the arrow keys and gave it to her boyfriend. The boyfriend then went on a mail-stealing spree using the key. In Westchester, NY, arrow keys have been sold to thieves. Other times, mail carriers have been robbed of their keys.

The arrow key explanation could account for the disappearing checks across the downtown Bethesda area. Investigators also recount that in some past cases, thieves have placed a glue trap on the end of a string and "fished" for envelopes through the mailbox flap. But the USPS has made the opening even smaller in response to those incidents, the Inquirer reported.

Bethesda post office hours change

The United States Postal Service has changed the hours of the Bethesda post office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue. Until further notice, the post office will no longer be accessible 24 hours a day. Access to the post office lobby and its self-service functions will now only be available during business hours, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, on weekdays. The lobby will close an hour earlier, at 4:00, on Saturdays. And the lobby will be closed all day on Sundays.

"Unforeseen circumstances" are the reason for the change, according to the USPS. There are two issues that may explain the change, however. Most obvious, is the coronavirus outbreak. But related to that, the post office has recently become an unofficial hotel for homeless people, who sleep on the floors inside at night. This was already an unhealthy situation, but now imagine adding Covid-19 to the problem. People living unattended in the post office at night certainly exposed the USPS to legal liability, as well as post office users to potential criminal activity.

The new hours render the P.O. Boxes here essentially useless to people who work during the day. Hopefully they will restore wider hours after the pandemic has ended.

Scaffolding blocks mailbox on Del Ray Avenue

Scaffolding has been erected to cover the sidewalk in front of the office building at 4930 Del Ray Avenue in downtown Bethesda. It is obstructing a mailbox that sits in front of the building.

USPS failure to deliver after blizzard has some Bethesda residents asking, "Where's the mail?"

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds

Not quite. Regular mail deliveries have not resumed for at least some USPS customers in Montgomery County. As of yesterday, mail was not being delivered on a daily basis - or at all since last Friday's blizzard - in parts of North and West Bethesda, and in Silver Spring, to name a few.

Those who have received at least one delivery report the amount of mail was small, entirely inconsistent with what should be a large backlog of nearly a week's worth of deliveries.

The USPS Service Alerts page is showing no specific alerts for Bethesda or Silver Spring. Nor is it citing any particular issue that would impair deliveries. A @USPSHelp Twitter account appears to be of little "help" to those tweeting to it.

YET ANOTHER USPS MAILBOX TO VANISH IN BETHESDA (PHOTO)

I recently reported on the planned removal of at least one mailbox from the sidewalk outside of the U.S. Post Office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue. But another even more venerable Bethesda mailbox could be removed from its longtime spot on August 21. Due to limited demand, the USPS says, it will reduce the number of mailboxes at the Shops at Sumner Place on Sangamore Road. 

Since there is only one freestanding mailbox on the property, by my recollection, I assume they are referring to the mailbox at the outer edge of the shopping center parking lot, right off Sentinel Drive. The only other mailbox nearby, as I recall, was at the entrance of the apartments around the bend on Sentinel Drive. According to the USPS, the second-closest mailbox in walking distance is on Westpath Road. The Sumner Place box was convenient for residents of the townhomes and condos across Sentinel from the shopping center.

Interestingly, demand apparently remains high for the mailbox at the Westwood Shopping Center, on Westbard Avenue. There are no notices regarding low demand or planned removal of that box, located outside of the Westwood Pet Center at the busy shopping center.

7001 ARLINGTON ROAD LUXURY APARTMENTS BETHESDA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE (PHOTOS)

Construction continues slowly but surely on the former site of the Bethesda Post Office, at 7001 Arlington Road. Formerly known as Dwell Bethesda, the luxury apartment building is, for now, known simply as 7001 Arlington Road. Questions regarding local elected officials' involvement (or lack thereof) in the selection of the new post office, at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue, remain unanswered.

Just last week, I was informed of a disabled post office patron who required the assistance of a Good Samaritan to successfully mail letters, due to the lack of handicapped parking at 6900. Handicapped parking in a nearby garage is simply no substitute for truly functional spaces near the front door of the post office. Some two decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act, all citizens have a right to expect equal access to public facilities. 

The United States Postal Service has yet to publicly announce a location for a second Bethesda post office it plans to open. But let's go ahead and check out the progress of construction crews at the much-missed former post office site: