In the midst of a pandemic, public health is the number one priority. People need to know what is being done at every level of government to keep them safe. In the case of COVID-19, an additional worry is that there is currently no vaccine, nor any clinically proven treatment for the virus. Local officials have been kept busy reaching out through social media posts, newsletters, emails, and phone calls advising their constituents on how to stay safe and avoid infection.

However, if the latest town hall for North Bronx residents is any indication, people are not just concerned about getting sick, they also want to resolve problems with delayed mail, ensure voting access in the upcoming primary election, and learn more about how elected officials are responding to the current crisis.

With many of these issues crossing different political jurisdictions, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz organized the event, held on Apr. 21 as a virtual town hall. Also participating were Rep. Eliot Engel, State Sen. Jamaal T. Bailey, and Councilman Andrew Cohen. BronxNet’s Gary Axelbank, who hosts BronxTalk, moderated the event which was streamed on Zoom and Facebook Live.

Residents from ZIP code 10463, which covers Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Spuyten Duyvil, and parts of Kingbridge Heights, continued to raise complaints to Dinowitz about spotty mail delivery. Even Axelbank revealed that he had not “received mail for ten straight days.”

Norwood News reported on Apr. 6 that Dinowitz had brokered a breakthrough with U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in relation to the delays, where USPS had agreed to deploy additional carriers over the weekend starting Friday, Apr. 3 to address the package backlog at Kingsbridge. However, it was clear from the discussion that there are still issues with the timely delivery of mail.

On Apr. 10, local resident, Richard Warren, posted some comments on the Norwood News website following the publication of the Apr. 6 story, saying that on Apr. 10, he had received four pieces of “real” mail. “From March 28^th, on most days I’ve received no mail,” said Warren, adding that on the days he did receive mail, it was always junk mail, except for one package, and a TV Weekly, which he said arrived a day after its listings began.

Recently, Warren has been driving to the Riverdale post office if he needs to mail anything. “Mail is an essential service,” he said. “I’ve read the last two issues of The Chief on the internet since they weren’t delivered. I bought the last two issues of the Riverdale Press at Stop and Shop since they were not delivered.”

Both Richard Steier, editor of The Chief, and Michael Hinman, editor of The Riverdale Press, confirmed that their respective publications are distributed through USPS.

“We have had a number of subscribers note that they have received their paper late in recent weeks,” Hinman said, adding that he appreciated the patience everyone has shown in terms of waiting for their paper and that his team were working to address the delays in all areas where they could.

Warren said that he heard that mail carriers at the Kingsbridge (10463) post office were afraid to go to work for fear of getting infected, and that the problem started when one infected employee went to work without telling anyone they were sick. He said he also heard that as soon as three more people caught the virus, that’s when the postal carriers went out sick.

Norwood News was referred to the Bronx post master’s office when we reached out to Kingsbridge post office for comment. We contacted the Bronx post master’s office and have been informed that the communications specialist will get back to us.

The following notice appears on the Kingsbridge post office website, “The Postal Service is classified as an essential government service, and will remain open wherever possible”. Its opening hours are listed as 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, and on Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It’s closed on Sundays.

Debra Taylor posted a comment on the post office’s website two weeks ago saying that she had been waiting on her pay checks for three weeks. Another person with the username, BCintron, also posted a comment on the website three weeks ago.

“I’ll tell you what is going on,” BCintron said. “Last time we received mail was 3/17. On Wednesday morning, I called the office and Mgr. told me they have 43 couriers and all refusing to work for fear of the corona. I asked can I pick up the mail. No. Because they have no sorters.”

“I called the USPS complaint office and made [sic] complaint,” BCintron said. “They are no excused [sic] from working unless they are sick. I got a complaint number and [sic] told to call the USPS consumer affairs office. They were no help but was told if I did not hear from post office in 3 days to call complaint office again and give complaint number.”

“Fed Ex and UPS are still making deliveries,” BCintron added. “They can wear a mask or even wrap there [sic] face up with a scarf if they [sic] so scared like many are doing.”

Bailey also heard of similar complaints from residents living in ZIP code 10475. “In Co-Op City we have a large retirement community and many seniors have had issues with the mail in the past,” he said.

Dinowitz offered his assessment of what he saw as the fundamental problem at USPS. “I think it all boils down, Gary, to the old money, money, money,” he said, in response to Axelbank’s question. The assemblyman said he would continue to put pressure on the postal service. “There is no excuse for the poor mail service,” he said. “I won’t tolerate it, [and] my constituents shouldn’t have to tolerate it.”

Of course, an erratic mail service also creates another pressing concern for both politicians and voters: the upcoming primary election in New York State, and the need to ensure that absentee ballots can be mailed in.

The presidential primary in New York State was originally scheduled for Apr. 28. It was postponed to Jun. 23 because of the anticipated risk of widespread infection among voters and polling site staff from COVID-19.

Social distancing measures were relaxed during Wisconsin’s presidential primary on Apr. 7, and on Apr. 20, ABC News reported that according to the state’s health officials, 19 new cases of the novel coronavirus were linked to election activities. These cases included both poll workers and voters.

The new June date in New York now coincides with state legislative and congressional races. Earlier this month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order allowing all New Yorkers the option to vote by mail in the primary election. This added to voters’ concerns that if the mail delays continued, absentee ballot applications might not be received by voters in time, or their votes might not be returned in sufficient time to be counted in the primary election.

On Apr. 24, Cuomo announced a further executive order mandating the State’s elections board to automatically mail every New Yorker a postage-paid application for an absentee ballot. While this order will offset one hurdle for voters in the electoral process, The NY Daily News reported on the same date that a statewide vote-by-mail election may not actually be possible under the State’s constitution.

Meanwhile, in New York, voter advocacy groups warned that a vote-by-mail system will significantly lower participation rates among people with disabilities who need access to large print or braille ballots which are only available at voting centers. Other groups are skeptical of a vote-by-mail system because they do not believe the State has accurate voter rolls.

The implications of voting-by-mail when the postal service is already encountering issues with timely delivery was not lost on Bailey. “If we want to make sure our democracy continues to function properly, this is something that we have to ensure we get right,” he said.

“People need to be able to have the confidence that their vote will be counted, if it’s sent by mail or it’s sent via absentee [ballot]. If we do nothing else with the mail, we [have to] get it right for Jun. 23,” he added. Another option that officials are considering is to open early voting access by mail. Bailey said that this option would require hearings at the State senate.

All panelists agreed that something had to be done to reassure voters that the process will be secure and that their votes will be counted. Engel wanted to make sure that restrictions associated with the pandemic would not affect voters with unwarranted fears.

“There are a lot of people who are not going to want to come out,” he said. “There are a lot of people who don’t want to get close to anybody because of all the things that we’ve been warned about. We want to see people vote,” he added.

Other topics discussed during the town hall related to the breakdown of COVID-19 cases in the North West Bronx and the revival of the economy. Cohen said that the latest information he had received, which was based on ZIP code data, was that there were over 16,000 cases for his district. However, he said that these numbers were solely based on testing. “There are many people, my own colleagues, who in all likelihood had it but never got tested,” he said, explaining that some had fever, were sick, but later got better.

Cohen also referenced the number of dead-on-arrival calls the 50^th precinct had received in recent weeks. “Initially, the medical examiner was not doing autopsies, was not determining the cause of death,” he said. “So, we’ll never know, I think, the number of people, until widespread antibody testing is available, how many people have had it, but the results have been tragic.”

In spite of the disproportionately high rates of infection in the Bronx, all officials were confident the borough would rebound. “I’m confident in the long-term prospects of the North West Bronx,” Cohen said. “But I can’t tell everyone exactly what’s going to happen, when we’re going to reopen.”

*Síle Moloney contributed additional reporting to this story.