2 min read

WaMu Says No To Community News

Always on the lookout for a bulletin board where I can post flyers for Sheepshead Bites, I happened upon the one above in the WaMu bank at 1519 Sheepshead Bay Rd.

I had never been in the bank, before, and was confused at the layout and lack of bulletproof glass. My first thought, was, “Wow, things have really changed since I worked as a teller. Are all WaMu branches are set up this way?”

There were large kiosk islands dotting the banking floor, but there didn’t seem to be too many tellers. It must be hard to find cash handlers who don’t mind being so vulnerable to bank robbers and who haven’t seen Dog Day Afternoon.

Read more about this news bulletin board after the jump.

I wasn’t even sure where to go for questions, so I just asked the someone at the customer service desk. I guess one benefit to the open layout is that the manager can hear everything at the customer service desk, even when he’s on the other side of the banking floor.

He came over and told me that I can’t post anything on the bulletin board, saying that the bulletin board is not “really supposed to be used for anything” and that they are supposed “just take everything off”.

But one of the signs looks like it had been there for so long that it’s curling up at the bottom and I couldn’t even read it. The other sign is an advertisement for Edible Arrangements at 1736 Sheepshead Bay Rd.

I’m all for a “fruity” community. But if WaMu can make “arrangements” for a local business to post as news, then why not our media site?

Maintaining a free community news bulletin board can be a hassle. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about and so must all the local politicians — otherwise, why would we not have a main public bulletin board like a lot of other communities (albeit not in New York City)? Still, this WaMu board is not high maintenance and if they’re going to have it there, they might as well make it a project.

Sheepshead Bay seems to discourage public knowledge when compared to Manhattan and parts of North Brooklyn — where cafes, restaurants, coffee shops, stores, and bakeries let people post flyers galore. Although, most do have rules about who can post and probably wouldn’t allow the moving companies to run rampant with their prolific flyers.

We do have a few places still left here that do this service, but the kudos will come when our flyer stays up for more than a couple of weeks. Last time, I posted our flyer at the Super Stop and Shop, the entire bulletin board was covered with Fall and Holiday displays.

There’s always the Coffee Spot Cafe, which allows regular customers to leave business cards — but, our regular readers know that I favor Chock Full o’Nuts coffee and we ran out of business cards.

The WaMu manager said that when Chase takes over in about six months, the entire branch will be redesigned and the bulletin board will be gone. Anyone wanna buy an interactive kiosk?

My next post will be entitled, “Can Two Chase branches Share a Block Together Without Driving Sheepshead Bay Crazy?” Now that’s community news WaMu (or even Chase) might want to consider.