Apparently OSHA Isn’t Concerned About Sleet

Rain, sleet, snow — no problem. The ripest, stankiest most overpowering example of human-cat stench is another matter:

The motto says neither rain nor sleet nor snow will get in the way of the United States Postal Service delivering mail, but a tenant in the Pomonok Houses development in Flushing may have found the one deterrent: the pungent smell in the hallway near her first-floor apartment, which is adjacent to the mailboxes for the building.

The mail carrier whose route includes the building at 70-20 Parsons Blvd. has refused to deliver letters there unless something is done about the smell, according to U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), who represents the area and is familiar with the issue.

If there is a health hazard the Postal Service cannot deliver to that location, an aide to Weiner explained. Weiner is on the House committee that tracks the postal service.

The Fresh Meadows Post Office is supposed to deliver mail to the building, but because of the current standoff tenants must instead pick up their mail at the post office. The manager of the Fresh Meadows postal branch could not be reached for comment.

Rose and Thomasina Maggio, who live on the first floor next to the mailboxes, keep about 30 cats in the apartment, according to Weiner’s aide, who said his office has received complaints from numerous tenants in the building.

The Maggios say they have two cats and that the smell is coming from the basement, not their apartment.

“This has been going on for two years, now. Housing came by and painted the apartment, cleaned the apartment and basement, and put in a new floor. The hallway smells because the basement floods and people pee in the doorway and the elevator,” said Rose Maggio, a 51-year veteran of the building.