By Gus Saltonstall
One of the two front doors at an Upper West Side post office has been out of order for months, according to Google Maps imagery and first-hand reports.
The post office, also known as the Planetarium, is located at 127 West 83rd Street and is one of the largest mail centers on the Upper West Side. The Planetarium has two front doors, and one of them has been out of order since last year.
“The west side entry door has been out of service since the fall of 2025,” Betsy Werley wrote in an email to West Side Rag. “Would love to see that entrance fixed, to give me a little more confidence that the system is working.”
The out-of-order door on the left-hand side means that all patrons must enter and exit through the right-hand door.
Google Maps shows that the west side entry door was still working in the summer of 2025.
The Rag visited the Planetarium office on Wednesday and attempted to speak to an employee about the door, but they told us to reach out to the United States Postal Service press team. We have reached out and will update this article as soon as we hear back.
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There’s not enough space on this website for what’s wrong with that post office.
You got THAT right.
Agreed. There have been a few employees there who have been great. But the majority are lazy, rude, and highly unmotivated. There is zero sense of urgency or desire to be helpful. They have the ultimate job security and no incentive to go the extra mile.
Try the post office on Columbus Avenue on 69th ( or 68th) Street. The employees are reliably helpful and never rude.
Outside of the military, you just described every government employee. Therein lies the problem.
“Every government employee”. No so much. Currently, my company is a subcontractor to a government contractor that does work for the VA. The procedures and paperwork to get vetted and certified to do work for the government are hellish, but during two visits to VA facilities (to get fingerprinted and to pick up my ID card), every VA employee I encountered was courteous, helpful and knew how to do their job.
Hmm, there is another Jane?
Not so. The “tellers” at the P.O. on 68th/Col are actually helpful, friendly and even, in many cases, motivated. It is like night and day. Even the tellers at the downtrodden P.O. on 104th (?) are more “bright-eyed” than the ones on 83rd.
Someone’s gonna go postal if they don’t fix it soon.
This place being understaffed is a more significant problem than one of the entrances not working.
Almost always seems to be a 30-40+ minute wait. You cannot outsmart the wait by thinking you’ll go at an off-peak time. There will be a wait then too. Weekends are a nightmare.
It is often quicker to walk to the Post Office on Columbus between 67th and 68th and mail a package there. If you have to go to 83rd street to pick something up, may God have mercy on your soul.
The 83rd street post office is the worst I’ve ever been to. It does have some nice people working there though!
I’ve walked to the Columbus post office because 83rd street PO is a nightmare -impression staff couldn’t give a damn. Like a fortress to keep locals at bay. Fort Apache of the post office
Is it worse than Cathedral on 104th?
My husband was in a wheelchair for several months. On and off the bus? No problem. Crossing the wide Amsterdam? No problem. Sidewalk? No problem. Trying to get into a government building….the W. 104th St Post Office? No way!
What happened to the Americans With Disabilities Act? Not even a ramp.
Actually, in many ways, yes, despite what at least one commenter here suggests. I have had better service – including at least two and sometimes three “tellers” – at 104th than at 83rd.
I had one extraordinary encounter (in a good way) with a postal clerk at 104…you’ve reminded me to send it to Metro Diary.
Yes
No, the 104th is the bottom.
No way; Cathedral on 104th is far worse.
Nothing can be worse than 104th and it’s been that way doe decades. Overall, how is it that the post office doesnt open on time? Not at 113 and not at 104….arent these Federal institutions???
This looks like a post office that hasn’t had an upgrade since the 1950s. It’s an embarrassment.
Your tax dollar$ at work!
USPS gets no tax money. They fund themselves. Trump appointed shipping magnate/USPS competitor Lou DeJoy as Postmaster General, taking the situation from bad to worse.
The broken door is really the least of their problems. The place is filthy. The self-service machines rarely work. There’s no one to ask for help. Half the bins are taped over. It looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in years. It’s an absolute disgrace.. How about a more in-depth article on why, what resources they have, and what our local politicians have to say about it??
In addition, it’s a disaster for the mobility-challenged, with a set of user-unfriendly stairs from the vestibule to the hellhole of the main lobby. The one door that allegedly does work is supposed to be automatic, but usually requires a hard push.
The post office is a federal Federal institution, not a city agency. The Trump administration has been deliberately starving/stripping USPS of resources. I know why it sucks but it’s extremely frustrating.
I’m more than willing to blame trump for just about everything; however this branch has been a dump for decades
sorry, but the dismal state of Planetarium predates Trump!
That Post Office, and the postal service in general, has been disfunctional since long before Trump was in office. The answer would be to privatize the whole postal service but, so far, the Democrats have resisted that.
I’ve been going there for nearly 50 years. I pre-dates either of the Trump presidencies. Planty of blame to go around.
Well, since at least 2006 with the 75 year prefunding pension vote, the GOP has been trying to destroy the Post Office.
Then Trump made matters worse in his first term and Biden did nothing to reverse Trump’s assault on rural mail.
Write a letter (not email) to Nadler, while he’s still in office and can do something.
It needs to be privatized. FedEx and UPS do what the USPS does, except they each are very profitable, while the Post Office loses billions every year!
UPS and FedEx do nothing of the sort; they certainly don’t deliver everywhere in the US, and don’t deliver mail for 78 cents.
The PO “loses” those billions because of the 2006 law I mentioned. Apparently you didn’t read my comment.
Alas, it’s going to take much more than a letter to Nadler to remedy the P.O.’s woes. Mail is deliberately delayed to three-four days so it can (hopefully) get to where it’s meant to be. Every P.O. is understaffed; they are doing the best they can, but with too little money and too little incentive to do the job right, we’d have to have a miracle to make good things happen. Anybody have a magic wand to wave?
Write Nadler about the door.
Correct, Nadler and Congress in general are not doing anything to reverse the destruction of the USPS.
The Ansonia post office on 68th & Columbus had the exact same issue within the past decade. The door was broken for what seemed like a year. Everyone had to enter and exit through the same “exit” door.
Shouldn’t this be in “ Openings & Closings”?
The system isn’t working. Can’t patch that up. Broken windows in theory is correct. But not always.
The USPS has been a disgrace for years. It should be scrapped and privatized.
So you want to pay dollars to mail a Christmas card? And there are lots of places that aren’t served by private functions. It worked fine until Republicans decided to start stripping it of resources so their buddies in private shipping companies could make more money.
You’ve got it right.
No, the prefunding of pensions for 75 years law should be repealed.
Privatization doesn’t work.
significant changes in that pension pre-funding four years ago. Not quite repeal but pretty close:
https://www.uspsoig.gov/focus-areas/did-you-know/what-did-postal-service-reform-act-2022-do
Does not say what you claim, still screws the PO and its workers.
Rural mail has become a disaster, coming or going.
ALL government pensions need to be scrapped. They are what is bankrupting our country. Give them 401k’s like everyone else.
Keep all workers desperate. /s
Also, the USPS isn’t part of the government, hasn’t been for 50+ years.
Wars of choice and tax cuts are bankrupting the US of A.
Forget about the broken door. I want to know what’s going on with my package that was supposed to be delivered on February 25, and arrived in NYC on February 24, buthas been sitting in a distribution center unmoving ever since with a status of “delivery date unknown”. I’m going to have to buy my niece a last minute birthday gift to replace it because it’s not here in time for her birthday. Also, it would be great if the post office actually had a customer service number or even a chat option for issues like this.
Each PO has a number you can call.
But can you get anybody to answer it?
It’s not at my post office and the tracking doesn’t say which distribution center it’s at or give a number or address for it. All I know is it’s at a New York City distribution Center and has been since February 24th. I asked at my post office and they said they don’t know more than the tracking.
I suggest you go to https://www.usps.com/
Track your package and file a missing mail report. Sometimes, that gets things moving again.
The staffing at this location needs repair as well. Excessive wait times and disappearing staff make it a subpar experience.
A broken door? The whole post office system is broken. The worst branch is Cathedral on 104th. The worker there literally told me to go the f back to the country I came from. It’s hopeless. A broken door, hahaha.
This post office has been a disgrace for years. Let alone the broken door. I wrote to the Executive Postmaster for Manhattan some time ago about the dilapidated condition of the place, surly postal workers (with mail carriers more than once seen smoking pot just around the corner) and just bad service. The waits are often interminable. More often than not, just one person at the counter. Nobody seems to care. Naturally, no response. I have learned that if I need something more than dropping off a letter in the post box, to go to the post office on 66th and Columbus. Friendly and more efficient service, at least for a post office. Just 22 blocks makes a world of difference.
Better yet is the post office on 62nd off Amsterdam. Always a pleasure. The postal workers actually smile.
Isn’t it a safety concern if there is only one means of egress from the post office, in case of emergency?
If only our healthcare system could be run like this.
Curse that Postmaster General Bill DeJoy! First he was removing mailboxes to help Trump steal an election, (remember that doosy? Front page story on the NYTimes 3 times in one week!), and now this !?!? 😉
The self-service kiosk screens have been covered in the same food debris and grime for months. I can only assume they are literally never wiped down. The whole establishment is a disgrace.
Maybe the ‘Now Hiring’ sign refers to a door-repair professional.
When I lived on 90th & Columbus, I had the choice between two post offices – 83rd St and 95th St. There was terrible service at either one with 83rd Street being the worst. They lost my incoming packages, had long lines, and the Self-Serve kiosks were often out of order. They had an insecure spot where you could drop off prepaid mail. Anyone could grab one of those packages.
I want to compliment the staff at 116th St. and Frederick Douglass Blvd. There are occasional long lines at busy times but I *never* have a problem with my mail.
This post office has the worst service. Very long wait times because understaffed. Sometimes only one window open, and that one tries to handle passport applications, which take forever.
Shocking!!
First World Problems
Agree with so many of the comments here. That post office is just a shambles of a place in all ways.
It looks like it hasn’t had any kind of cleaning in years. Under-stocked. Understaffed. I do all I can to avoid it.
The building is disgraceful. Dumpy and understaffed. And the staff itself could use some training in customer relations.
There is a working door – use that one! How about all of the other problems? There are steps after you go in through either door with no wheelchair accessibility. All of the self service machines were out of order the other day. There are too few workers there. They are rude, etc. etc. etc.
I live up the block, so this is my local P.O. And of the three on the UWS, it is by far the worst. Forget the door. They are always wildly understaffed, horribly managed (in fact, you can rarely if ever speak to a manager), and just plain horrible. Compared to this P.O., even the one on 104th (?) is a utopia. And the one on 68th/Col is almost a pleasure to go to.
I wonder why the USPS is so obviously and specifically neglecting this P.O. It makes me wonder if they are simply going to close it sooner than later. (It’s like Broadway Farms, which claimed over and over that they weren’t going to close, despite dwindling staff, half-empty shelves, etc. – and then they closed.)
This P.O. rarely has more than two “tellers” – and one is usually specifically for passports only, – and then goes off duty – which means there is only one teller serving the general public for mailing, etc.
Can Gothamist use their contacts to find out from the USPS why this P.O. is being neglected?
There’s one door in use at W112th Street, too. The other is labeled: broken. The staff is nice, in my experience, particularly if they are treated with respect and maybe a bit of humor.
What a joke! A broken door is the BEST thing about that PO.
Any way any gripers here would be interested in creating a clean-up group? One or two passes with some Clorox wipes and Mr. Clean’s mop head would make a difference and send a message that this community cares and is willing to contribute to creating a better place.
Contact your Congressional reps. This is a federal matter.
This is without a doubt the worst post office in all of NYC. In most cases there is only 1 window open with more then 10 people in line yet you’ll see a bunch of people in the back conversing. The male manager will scream at customers if they come in close to closing. Horribly run post office and always has been, it just gets worse by the year.
That is such a lousy post office in SO many ways!
I have found it worth the subway fare to go to the West 18th Street Post Office, right off 7th Ave. Amazingly helpful pleasant clerks. Hard to believe they work for the same post office. My “home post office” is Cathedral Station. Do we really need the bullet proof glass? If they hired customer service oriented clerks it would but be necessary… Can they please wash and wax the floors once in a while???
Yes, this PO is one of the best. The clerks there are consistently nice and helpful (except for window #8, who fits the typical surly government worker profile). The space itself is still sad and depressing and there can sometimes be lines, but there are usually 2-4 windows open whenever I’ve gone to that branch.
Same at West 112th St office too
It doesn’t matter to me. Anyone who would willingly go into that place is nuts. The dirtiest, ugliest post office in the USA with the surliest most unhelpful and inefficient staff. UGH!
That post office is so old fashioned and in poor condition with never enough employees at the windows and long lines. The post office boxes are hard to open, They really need to bring it up into the 21st Century.
Beyond this they have the worst service and most horrid workers out of any post office I’ve ever been to in the city or otherwise.
This sounds like a story from a small town somewhere.
Job and customer appreciation seem to be lacking at institutions like the Post Office on 83rd Street. As someone mentioned, it can feel like another level of hell. It often seems that the staff are not properly trained, and their raw attitudes sometimes show in how they interact with customers and care for their surroundings. Unfortunately, this kind of experience is becoming common in many places. Of course, the lack of funding likely contributes to the situation as well
If I had a nickel for every time I had a bad experience at this post office, I’d have a gym bag full of nickels.
I was at the main post office on 34th Street one day and was flabbergasted at how efficiently everything went. 8th or 9th in Line. Under five minutes. A smile at the window. My joy was obvious. I couldn’t help saying, “Wow! This is absolutely nothing like my post office.” The friendly face in the window asked, “Which one is that?” I responded, “Planetarium Station.” “Oh,” she said. “Do you know why we call it Planetarium?” I shook my head. Straight faced she gave the answer. “Because that’s where your mail goes to Mars.”
So many delightful stories… I’d rather go to the DMV.
And lest I forget, there were the two months when 7 (yes, seven) checks were pilfered out of the mail. Four different mail boxes within six blocks and 3 mailed from the station. And then the memorable day that a man walked in off the street and defecated. No one cleaned it up. At least in the additional 40 minutes I was in line. It may still be there. Fossilized.
Window to management office is covered with paper. Mail deposit box inside post office is partially secured closed by a $1 lock. and mail can be easily stolen.
My friend, Newman said this post office on West 83rd Street is the best to work out of as a postal worker. When it’s raining or snowing, he takes the day off and they don’t care which is no surprise as you can see by them not fixing that one door. And the other door needs WD-40 to stop the squeaking.
My friend and neighbor, Jerry Seinfeld refuses to go in there because the audience on line and behind the glass don’t laugh at his jokes.
I like going in there. It’s very entertaining watching people’s faces as if it’s the end of the world inside a post office. It gives me million dollar ideas for my next coffee table book. Giddy-Up!
People’s faces contort while standing on-line in this post office. I can’t even make jokes to anyone but if I complain they all join in. Mamdani should come here and see what’s going on!
It’s not just the broken door-I really hope West Side Rag can initiate some sort of investigation-I find the mail carriers from this station are really great however the staff manning the windows are not helpful to say the least and the design of this PO lends itself to a prison like atmosphere where customers are treated like invaders rather than welcome guests-I avoid this PO whenever I can and use the Post Office 10 blocks away as Ansonia branch is a great experience
How about contacting NYC Dept of Buildings for possible code violation? I expect that one door for entry and exit may not provide adequate emergency egress.