Lower Fifth avenue - need help

basic:
The delivery address can be verified with DHL (including date and time).
DHL is not a new delivery service and Manhattan addresses are not new to them.
(Why would a doorman at another Building accept it and then try to stash it away, how would he remove it ?)

Most likely (although I don't know how long you've been living at your current address),
a staff-member there signed for the delivery with a false name because he wanted whatever was in that
"big package".

Contact DHL and get verification. Bring that verification to your local Police Precinct and file a complaint.
Send that verification back to DHL and to the company of delivery origin (where you purchased the item).
Your Building doorman has a log-book where incoming deliveries are noted.
You will find out the name of the doorman on duty, at the time of that delivery.
The Police will investigate and you will have a Police Report for stolen property.

Have you tried 24 5th ave? They have a large staff (porters as well as doormen) all of whom can sign for packages. I'm wracking my brain and cannot for certain say there's a J Cortez but for some reason that name rings a bell... Also, 24 5th has a relatively large package room so it is not unfeasible that something might linger there, even a larger package, and be overlooked.

Just a shot in the dark...

Good luck!

Listen to Truth. I had a similar problem and dealt with it that way.

jel: Right. It's the doorman (or another staff member, relieving the doorman for a break or lunch) who
receives packages. Not very likely that DHL would deliver it to the wrong address and it would then be accepted by the doorman at that wrong address.

The doorman's log-book is there for him and the staff to keep a record of deliveries that they sign for,
so they are not depending on their memory. The fact that the staff said they "don't remember" makes it seem that the delivery arrived and it was signed-for with a phony name , not entered into the log-book.
Who was manning the door at your Building at the time of the delivery? The log-book will have the name of the doorman on duty there.

(Why did you wait " a couple of weeks" ? Weren't you expecting the delivery?)

NOT an uninteresting post; everybody loves a good mystery. Now you better tell us how this turns out.

Also don't forget your building lobby security tapes! Find out the exact date and time that this package was allegedly signed for, and get on the horn to your building manager ASAP to requisition those tapes before they erase them (most buildings hold the tapes for 30 days I believe).

Good luck!

ok, thanks for that ! I will get to work and let you know asap

NYCMatt: The security tapes will be requested by the NYPD. That is part of the process involved in their
investigation.

Good luck getting those security tapes, without the involvement of the NYPD.
That's why stolen property of this sort should be reported as soon as possible to the NYPD.
You are correct about the time-frame for erasure, anything erased before the 30 days would be suspect.

basic: You are now on the right track.

Sounds like Truth is overreacting. You honestly think that a doorman or relief doorman signed for the package under an assumed name because they wanted to surreptitiously lug home an unidentified, large cumbersome package? And they managed to find someplace in the building to stash it in the meanwhile with nobody noticing?

It's probably at another location. Now, why would a doorman sign for a package addressed to another building? Because they didn't notice. Because they were signing for a lot of deliveries that day. Because they were more concerned with attending the lobby.

But definitely a fascinating post.

buster: It would not be the first time such a thing happened (as jelj commented, above).

The doorman in basic's building may have be told by basic about the delivery that was expected.
The doorman only needs to stash it in the package room and call a friend to pick it up and take it away.
The doorman isn't the only staff member aware, sometimes the porter is involved. Somebody with a car is called and they carry it out.

It's no "overreaction".

If it's at another building, it's been there for a very long time (a couple of weeks, nobody at the building notices it?)
As far as a doorman "not noticing" and "signing for a package addressed to another building":
Doormen sign for a lot of deliveries every day. It part of their job and they accept the delivery and enter the information in the doorman's log-book.
"They were more concerned with attending the lobby":
They do both and their "concern" is directed to "attending" to incoming deliveries.

It's not impossible, yet it would take a DHL delivery guy who delivered the package to the wrong address because he "didn't notice" it was the wrong address. Was the delivery-guy also making "a lot of deliveries that day"? That's what DHL delivery guys do.
Was the DHL delivery guy more concerned with something other than delivering ( which is his job responsibility)?

So, yes it's not out of the realm of possibility that the delivery was taken by the staff-member on duty at basic's building that day.
As a matter of fact, when doormen change shifts/go out on breaks; they inform the incoming doorman of the deliveries that were accepted and sign-for while they were on door-duty and show them the log-book.
This is done so that the staff-member/doorman who is coming on his shift will know that deliveries to residents have been accepted and that when basic comes home she will be told that "there is a delivery for her, waiting in the package room" (rather than the doorman responding to basic's question : "Do I have a delivery from DHL"? by saying :
"Uh, I don't know. I'll go look in the package room to see if I can find it. You can "attend the lobby" for me while I'm in the package room".

"A couple of weeks" is a long time for a package (and such a large delivery item) to be left in the package room, while the staff is unaware that it is in there.
At the very least, if the buster scenario is what happened; why would the staff at the wrong building
not call DHL to report that they mistakenly signed-for and accepted a delivery that was mistakenly
delivered to their building by a DHL delivery guy?

"J Cortez" must work in a building where both he and the rest of the staff are very inept at their job.
Honestly, buster.

If this were our building, the super would replay the video right away from the relevant time and see if DHL ever came. From there the course to take may be pretty clear based on what you see. If the item never arrived at your building, then DHL can investigate further. If the item did arrive, you'll know a lot more about who received it. Running to the police right away seems a bit premature.

The doormen at these buildings are not a sketchy lot (I admittedly do not know 24 Fifth very well). It is very hard to imagine a scenario where a staff member at 20, 25, 30, 40, 41, 43 Fifth Ave, etc would steal a package. These are very stable staffs of longtime employees who are by and large extremely trustworthy.

Truth: This happened to us twice since September. The doorman in our building never logged in the packages and the people who supposedly signed for them didn't work for the building. The videos for the hour before and after the time of the supposed deliveries did not show ANY deliveries at all. After a week long investigation by various groups in each case, we discovered it was sent to another building several blocks away. The doormen in the other building kept the packages in their store room and made no attempt to return them. Despite showing identification, etc. , in each case they were reluctant to give me the package. I threatened them with various actions and they finally gave me the packages. They had no explanation for signing for packages for people they knew did not reside in the building. Made me very suspicious ...

Give me a break! "Truth" is a liar, bold faced indeed. She needs to devote more attention to Lady GaGa and her other "clients." NOT...................................

ok here is to conclude this mystery... a few elements first:
1/ I do not doubt the building staff at all (I might be naive, but I just cant see one of the staff members receiving a 50 pound table and hide it, especially knowing they have full access to my apt pretty much all year long)
2/ there is no cctv of any sort, so no tape to check

So DHL admitted they lost it, insurance will cover it, and another table is about to be reshipped to me at no cost of course (hopefully this time i ll catch it). Thanks again so so much for your help/advise !

They "lost" it.

In other words, a DHL employee STOLE it. 50-pound tables don't just disappear.

I dont know. But to me now it s the same. Nothing I can do. I ll peacefully wait for another table... thanks again to all of you for the wise words

No, it's not the same.

For every claim insurance pays out, they raise rates on ALL of us.

kyle: Since "basic" found out that there is no security video in basic's building, it's not suspicious that the staff didn't report the situation to the super. There was no video to review.
2 weeks is not "right away", the entire staff of doormen and porters go into the package room every day, during that time. There still is no evidence that it wasn't stolen by basic's building staff.

jelj explains what happened to the expected and missing deliveries: being held by doormen/staff, at another building and they still didn't want to turn it over to jelj ( police report was filed, with "various groups"). They "had no explanation...." because the only reason is that they are dishonest.
Although many buildings have "very stable staffs of longtime employees" all buildings have staff turnover, due to retirement and other staffing issues, such as temporary workers.
You don't know who you are getting and, in the case of the building staff who took jelj's delivery:
you don't always know who you have.

Matt: That's correct, the delivery was in the hands of another building staff and they were in the possession of property that they knew did not belong to them, or residents of the building.
That's "stolen property".

If the DHL delivery guy stole the table, the delivery is still "stolen property".

basic: At least you didn't continue to try to find "J Cortez".

As far as building staff having "full access to (your) apartment...":
Doormen and Building staff have been found to have stolen property from apartments, in buildings where they have a "key-box" containing apartment keys.
You can google it and you will find that "stolen property" is lifted, right out of those apartments by Building staff.

It wasn't very long ago, that a Building with a" trusted" staff had various items of value missing, from several apartments (watches, jewelry) and only after the residents compared notes with each other, did they find out that there were items missing from their apartments, not merely misplaced by the residents. (the super, staff and management company did not alert the building residents).
Police reports were filed and inside-apartment security cameras were installed.

On the security camera tapes: one of the "trusted" doormen was shown entering the apartments with the apartments' key (which he took from the key-box) and helping himself to a ring here and a watch there and so on, throughout the building.

"J Cortez"

Yeah, that's not a made-up name.

And I would NEVER trust my apartment key in one of those building key-boxes. If there's really an emergency and someone needs to get into my apartment RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND, that's why the FDNY has battering rams. I'll gladly pay $2,000 for a new door just to keep my key out of the hands of people I do not trust (or even know).

I agree with Matt 100%. However, here in California, it is LAW that in co-ops and condos, there MUST be a key kept with the doorman for emergencies. If a fireman must break down the door, there is a huge fine (I believe $2,000+) payable to the Fire Department and/or Police. Sucks, I know, because I don't want people I don't know or trust to have access to my apartment -- filled with exquisite antiques -- especially if I have done something to piss them off (which happens frequently).

I agree with Matt 100%. However, here in California, it is LAW that in co-ops and condos, there MUST be a key kept with the doorman for emergencies. If a fireman must break down the door, there is a huge fine (I believe $2,000+) payable to the Fire Department and/or Police. Sucks, I know, because I don't want people I don't know or trust to have access to my apartment -- filled with exquisite antiques -- especially if I have done something to piss them off (which happens frequently).

Fine payable to fire dept: $2,000.
Cost of new door: $2,000.
Keeping your key out of the hands of "J. Cortez": PRICELESS.

Matt:
I agree. Especially in a building that doesn't have security cameras. I'm surprised that, in 2014, there is a building on lower Fifth Ave. without a security camera system.

I'm surprised that in ANY year there's a building on Lower Fifth with no security camera. Even buildings in Brooklyn have them!

Really, Matt:
What's up with that?!
It seems to be a shortcoming, in such non-"sketchy" buildings.

kyle:
Your thoughts/opinions on why there is no security camera system in-place at basic's building?
As an attorney, wouldn't you advise such a building to install a security camera system?
Your building has a security camera system.
(Not casting aspersions on that neighborhood, nor your wonderful co-op in that neighborhood.)

Wouldn't you agree , in the situation in which "basic" describes, security cameras would be helpful?
The DHL delivery-guy can't be accused of "theft/stolen property" because there is no evidence
that he never arrived at basic's building and delivered?
That's the reason why DHL stated that the delivery was "lost" and not "stolen".

kyle?
Even as just a regular guy, what are your thoughts/opinion?
Let's pretend that you're not an attorney.

The security tapes in my building are how I nailed my USPS package delivery guy. He'd actually signed off on my package (which I never received) as having been "delivered" at a precise date and time. The tapes showed he never entered the building at all that day.

Deliveries are sent via : Fed Ex, DHL, UPS, USPS...
It's good to be able to track deliveries online.

If there is no security camera system in-place, such a building would be open to all sorts of liability:
"J Cortez" could run amuck.