A holiday feast in a Lower Manhattan post office is making locals unhappy, as rats allegedly gnaw away at packaged foodstuffs. NY1's Susan Jhun filed the following NY1 For You report.

A situation has been eating away at the residents of Brevoort East in Greenwich Village, as locals claim that rodents have been chewing on their packages at the local post office.

One neighbor, Susan Meyer, learned the hard way that she wasn't the first to taste the coffee beans she had specially shipped in from Costa Rica.

"I was revolted," says Meyer. "Twice it’s happened that I’ve gotten a call from the front desk to say that the package has arrived and has been eaten by rodents, with the beans even spilling out."

Brevoort East concierge Philip Windley says he has seen anywhere from 10 to 15 packages with rodent holes in the last few months.

"People are disgusted about it. You know, it’s a shame," says Windley. "We even have to use gloves because we find droppings in the box."

The packages are delivered to the building from Cooper Station Post Office on Fourth Avenue and 11th Street, where residents say rats are destroying their perishable packages.

"I went over to the post office and I said, ‘What’s going on here?’ And he laughed at me. He laughed!" says Meyer. "And he said, ‘This is nothing! Wait until the holidays. These guys love chocolate.’"

NY1 contacted the United States Postal Service and asked what was being done to address the rodent problem at Cooper Station Post Office.

A USPS spokeswoman said in a statement, "We are committed to providing our customers with a safe and secure place to do business.... We have a contract with a licensed pest control service to inspect and treat Cooper Station and post offices throughout the city on a regular basis. Records indicate, Cooper Station was last serviced on November 18th and no rodent activity was reported.... We apologize for any inconvenience and concerns this incident caused our customers and employees."

After NY1 advised the USPS that rodent-tampered packages were received after the last reported exterminator visit, the spokeswoman said the supervisor at Cooper Station requested an immediate return visit by the pest control company.

As residents hope the measures will end this pesky situation, NY1 will continue to follow the story.

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