Five Points post office locks out ‘urinating, defecating, naked’ homeless people
The Five Points post office is limiting access to the area that houses its post office boxes because of the number of homeless people sleeping there after hours.
An employee said the unwelcome after-hours occupants relieve themselves in the lobby and commit vandalism. One man was even caught sleeping, naked, three times.
“Urinating, defecating, naked,” said postal employee Leslie Jones, shaking her head. “You have to chase them out every morning.”
Jones added that one man brought in a 32-inch broken TV for some reason.
The lobby containing the boxes had been open 24 hours, seven days a week. But beginning May 20, the doors have been locked at 5 p.m. and reopened at 7:30 a.m. “due to vandalism and other safety concerns of our postal customers,” a sign on the door read.
“We apologize for any inconveniences that this might cause,” the note said.
That doesn’t bother Mark Smith of Lexington, who keeps a box in Five Points for business. He said he tried to check on the box before the homeless folks started showing up at about 7 p.m.
“You come in, and there would be people sleeping on the floor, especially when it was cold,” he said.
Craig Currey, CEO of Transitions, a homeless center on Main Street, said public bathrooms are a problem for homeless people who, for various reasons, choose to not enter a shelter.
The city has recently installed some portable toilets on Assembly Street across the street from Finlay Park, where homeless tend to gather.
“At 2 a.m., businesses are closed,” he said. “Finlay Park (bathrooms are) closed. And you can’t just walk into a shelter in the middle of the night.”