Next Door Shipping . Photo by Lucy Butcher for BushwickBK
Bushwick residents are no strangers to postal frustration. After you order something online, you pray that UPS will be kind enough to leave the package in your building foyer if you’re not home, so that you don’t have to go through the ordeal of tracking it down. If the package is delivered, you hope it doesn’t mysteriously disappear before you get home from work. And when you need to send a package, a visit to the local US post office can be a soul-crushing experience.
Zalman Friedman is a man who knows all this, and his aim is to make the postal experience in Bushwick easier with his family owned and operated business, Next Door Shipping, which opened just under a year ago and provides a full range of UPS and FedEx services. “We do everything the post office does, with an exception – we don’t have the long lines, or the nasty service,” he said from behind the counter of the wood-paneled, hole-in-the-wall shipping center at 78 Beaver Street.
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Friedman prides himself on taking the time to figure out the best way to pack and ship an item, at the best price. He says he’s shipped everything from wedding gowns, tables, and chandeliers to bicycles, recording equipment, keyboards and guitars, and oddly-shaped artwork and portfolios for Bushwick’s many artists, musicians, and freelancers. “Every individual package has a different story; no two packages are the same,” he said.
Next Door Shipping offers mailbox rentals for $12 per month for 12 months (the first month is free), and you can access your mail 24 hours a day. You can have your UPS packages safely delivered to the Beaver Street location, too: Zalman will give you a call when your package arrives, and it costs $5 per item. Printing, copying, and faxing services are also available, along with packing and shipping supplies, computer accessories, stationery, and a photo printing kiosk.
The shipping center even doubles as a café with free wifi and hot coffee, thanks to Friedman’s wife, Simie. Every morning, her fresh, home-baked pastries are neatly laid out, underneath the wall of framed black-and-white photographs documenting the history of the U.S. Postal Service. “These are European recipes coming from way back, from my family and the community,” she said, pointing to her chocolate babka, raisin and walnut rugalach, almond and craisin biscotti, cheese danishes, muffins, and sweet rolls. Snacks and homemade sandwiches will soon be on offer, too.
Andrew December 16th, 2010 at 11:05 am
I love this place – incredibly convenient for receiving packages. Zalman and Simie are the best!