Bronx post office cannot safely deliver packages, USPS says, as customers face excruciating wait times

People in the Bronx are complaining about painfully long wait times at their local post office as lines sometimes go out the door. 

The United States Postal Service says delays at the Morrisania post office are due to "a significant number of packages" that could not safely be left at homes.

On Thursday, CBS News New York saw multiple people changing their minds and deciding not to even go inside once they saw the line.   

"Two and a half hours for a stamp!"

Residents said a trip to the East 167th Street post office is anything but a quick errand these days, with some complaining about waiting five hours for a package and only one or two clerks helping out. 

"I have to wait two and a half hours for a stamp! It's ridiculous," Raymond Cioffi said. 

"It's probably the worst post office I have been in," businessowner Frank Farrell said. "If this was in a different zip code, it wouldn't be like this."   

Video shows chaos there last week, when signs said packages could not be picked up until the afternoon and some people said their packages were lost. 

"Inside, it's all messed up," Alberto Virs said. 

"I don't want to come back here ever again," Andres Lopez said. 

Another resident shared a video of when police were called after frustrated customers got heated over the long wait.  

USPS explanation doesn't add up, customers say

Many customers said long waits have been an issue at the Morrisania post office for quite some time, but the problem has been piling up in recent weeks. 

"The recent increase in lobby traffic is due to a significant number of packages that were brought back to the office," USPS spokesperson Xavier Hernandez said in a statement to CBS News New York. 

The spokesperson said the packages could not safely be left at homes, but some customers argued the explanation does not add up with what they're being told at the counter. 

"They were telling us that packages were sent to Soundview," Ebony Johnson said. "I don't know what's going on here, but it's horrible." 

The spokesperson said the post office has added staff to assist customers and help reduce overall wait times. They expected traffic to normalize soon.