Our proud borough has been given many nicknames and abbreviations over the years, and now the United States Postal Service — sticklers for proper addresses — has offered up a confusing new one straight out of a Dr. Seuss tale: “Frooklny, N.Y.”
The much-maligned Kensington Post Office misspelled the borough’s name on thousands of package pick-up slips, instructing residents in the 11218 zip code to come to the post office on McDonald Avenue in this still undiscovered town to get packages that couldn’t fit through their mail slots.
And it doesn’t seem that they’re going to correct the error: the post office, which many consider one of the worst in the city because of its rude workers and long lines, was still using the botched pick-up slips when this reporter stopped by last week.
“We printed out a whole batch of these,” said a station employee, nearly cracking a smile as a resident handed her one as a souvenir.
Customers waiting on line couldn’t believe the United States Postal Service would make such a boo-boo.
“I thought it was a joke, but the guy in front of me had the same one!” Said Robin Wertheimer, a Windsor Terrace resident who headed to the Kensington Post Office to pick up her package after she couldn’t find Frooklny on any map. “I always wondered why Chinese restaurant owners didn’t get their menus proofed — but the post office? How did they do this?”
The United States Postal Service would not comment on the misspelling — but a spokeswoman gasped in surprise when we told her about the error.
“I can’t believe that!” she said.
Yet some were not too surprised by the blooper, claiming they expected nothing less from a post office that sparked a customer breakdown so epic that the YouTube video on the incident went viral in 2006.
“I think this really drives our concerns home,” said Wertheimer.
Reach reporter Eli Rosenberg at erosenberg@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2531. And follow him at twitter.com/emrosenberg.
