JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Perched on the corner of a quaint downtown block in this northern New Jersey city, it stands ready to serve the community from morning to night and through rain, sleet and snow.
A royal blue U.S. Postal Service mailbox.
For nearly two decades, a USPS collection box has stood along Pavonia Avenue at Coles Street, safeguarding the precious correspondence of countless residents.
But now some locals treat it like a pariah.
“I stopped putting checks in that mailbox,” Vinod Dadlani said.
“Never again,” Paul Albasi said.
The two men are victims of baffling and still-unsolved crimes. Checks they dropped in the box were stolen, altered and cashed.