The borough’s new postmaster was officially sworn in during an installation ceremony at the Pregones Theater on April 24.
United States Postal Service officials, local electeds, friends and family gathered to congratulate Lilliam Rodriguez on her appointment and witness her take the oath of office.
Rodriguez started her 35-year career with the postal service as a distribution clerk in Puerto Rico, and climbed the ladder as a manager before reaching her most recent position as postmaster of San Juan.
She arrived to lead the Bronx as ‘officer-in-charge’ in December 2013 before being named postmaster in September.
As postmaster, Rodriguez oversees 1513 employees at 45 stations and branches throughout the borough.
The position has seen a fair number of turnovers in recent years—Rodriguez is the fifth postal chief of the Bronx since 2009.
But the newest postmaster said she has no intentions of leaving soon, and would love to finish out her career in the Bronx.
“I plan to stick around,” she said.
There are a number of challenges facing the post office today, and Rodriguez acknowledged that there are issues with service in the Bronx that need to be addressed—chief among them long lines at branches and delayed delivery.
She said she has several ideas to reduce waits at the post offices through adjusting the flow of services.
For example, the lines at the Southern Boulevard location near Hunts Point had been plagued with wait times that could be hours long, Community Board 2 told the Bronx Times earlier this month.
But after meeting with elected officials and the postmaster, the post office recently installed a navigator to resolve the issue.
Rodriguez said she’s been making an effort to meet with community leaders to listen to their complaints.
“I want to engage so that I can address all their concerns,” she said. “I want to provide the best services, which the customer deserves.”
