Save the Post Office is edited and administered by Steve Hutkins. The website was created in 2011, when Steve’s local post office in New York’s Hudson Valley was in danger of closing. Steve’s “day job” was as an English professor (now retired) who taught place studies and travel literature at the Gallatin School of New York University. He’s never worked for the Postal Service and has no affiliation with it.
This website provides information about post office closings, suspensions, and consolidations; the historic post office buildings that are being sold; and the fight to preserve the people’s post office. The website also examines topics like the Postal Service’s finances, court cases, and the efforts to privatize the postal system.
Steve was one of twenty people honored by Vice.com as “Humans of the Year” for 2020. Writing for Vice, Aaron Gordon said the “save the post office” project “made Hutkins one of the most consistent independent USPS observers looking out for the best interests of ordinary U.S. residents…. In a way, Hutkins demonstrates the finest example of what a functioning civil society looks like in a year where we haven’t had an awful lot of those. The entire premise of a representative democracy is that most people can’t or don’t want to pay close attention to what the government is doing all the time. But a functioning democracy also requires people, like Hutkins, facilitating an informed citizenry that puts a transparent government to good use.”
In 2011, during its first year online, Save the Post Office was named the “Most Valuable Website” by John Nichols in Nation Magazine’s annual Honor Roll. “Nowhere was the assault on public services more aggressive than in the push to downsize the Postal Service,” wrote Nichols. “And Steve Hutkins’s website, www.savethepostoffice.com, became an essential resource for a network of grassroots groups in all fifty states defending local post offices—along with the idea that the founders were right when they argued that a strong postal service does not just deliver mail; it builds communities and links them as a nation. Best of all, Save the Post Office has made smart arguments for expanding the USPS by doing things like renewing the old postal banking system.”
Unless otherwise noted, all the articles on Save the Post Office are written by Steve.
If you’d like to drop Steve a note, send a note to steve@savethepostoffice.com or use the contact form.
Mark Jamison
Mark Jamison, who served for many years as a postmaster in a small town in North Carolina, is a regular contributor and adviser to Save the Post Office. His posts can be found here, and there’s more about Mark here. You can reach Mark at markijamison01@gmail.com.
More about Save the Post Office
One of Steve’s articles about post office closings is cited in United States Postal Service:A Sustainable Path Forward: Report from the Task Force on the United States Postal System.
Steve has written about historic post offices for the National Trust for Historic Preservation (Section 106, Protective Covenants, and Sale of Historic Post Offices), and he submitted testimony to Preserving Historic Post Offices: A Report to Congress, prepared by The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Steve’s posts have been cited in scholarly articles, including
- “Does the United States Postal Service Charge Amazon Too Little?” by Thomas L. Barton and John B. MacArthur
- Keeping Post Offices Public: Three Case Studies On The Disposal And Rehabilitation of Historic Post Offices by Katherine Coffield
- Post Offices in a Foggy World: Understanding the Value of the New Deal Post Office and its Public Art in the National Landscape by Barrett Reiter
- Why Old Places Matter: How Historic Places Affect Our Identity and Well-Being by Thompson M. Mayes.
Save the Post Office has appeared in numerous news articles, including:
- Washington Post Profile
- “Post Office Buildings with Character, and Maybe a Sale Price” (NY Times)
- “Parceling Out Old Post Offices” (USA Today)
- “Erasing History at USPS” (JStor)
- “What kind of postal service do you want” (OIG guest blogger)
- How the U.S. Postal Service Fell Apart (Time)
- Downsize Means Destroy (NY Times)
- “Yes to Amazon. No to the Public. Welcome to the New Post Office” (Huffington Post)
- Congress wants delay in selling of historic post offices until federal report is completed (Washington Post)
- Community Outcry Helps Save Mission Valley Post Office (San Diego Union Tribune)
- Protesters Live in Tent City to Oppose Post Office Closure (The Nation)
- Sad Change of Address: P.O. Relocation Angers Union
- USPS tries to parcel out old post offices (USA Today)
- Service Suspended Southboro branch post office is on ’emergency suspension‘ (Palm Beach Post)
- “In the Mail” (Daily Deal)
- “NoVa Residents Battle to Save Local Post Offices” (Washington Post)
- Post Office still vital for the masses (AJC op-ed)
- Ralph Nader: Time to Save the Post Office
- Tiny towns battle to keep their post offices (The Tennessean)
- Texas town fears the worst if post office closes (Star-Telegram)
- Gothamist Interview
- NYU Local Interview
- ‘Save the Post Office’ Movement Defends ‘the Human Side of Government’ – Nation
- Hightower Lowdown (STPO cited as “terrific citizens action website”)
- 10 Remedies for an Ailing Postal Service – The Street
- Chicago Postal Worker
- Daily Kos
- Letter Writers Alliance
- Liberation
- Neue Zürcher Zeitung
- NYU Professor Goes Postal – NY Intel
- Nutty Professor Fights to Save USPS from ‘Greedy Corporations’ — The Blaze
- One Man’s Efforts to Save the Post Office — NC Letter Carrrier Activist
- USPS Cuts Loom (Huffington Post)
- WWRL Interview
- Wrecking America’s Postal Service — the people’s voice.org
- Google Maps Mania
- Postal Service’s budget woes hit Edgewood again (Carolina Reporter)
- Historic Downtown post office may close
- The Postal Service drops plans to close thousands of Post Offices (USA Today)
- Iowa among top 10 states hit by reduced post office hours(DesMoines Register)
- Postal closures likely to start this summer (CNN Money)
- Save the Post Office — Save the Vote (Moyers on Democracy)
- The U.K., Germany and Others Have Privatized Their Postal Service, Would it Work in the U.S.? (Newsweek)
- Radio interview, Background Briefing with Ian Masters
- Trump tem um novo inimigo: os correios americanos (InfoMoney Brazil)
- Revealed: evidence shows huge mail slowdowns after Trump ally took over (Guardian)
- Trump, beware: Americans have a deep, enduring love for the Postal Service (Washington Post)
- La crise postale qui pourrait ébranler le vote de novembre (La Press)
- Post Office Plague: Kentucky Leads Nation in Closed Post Offices (SpectrumNews1)
- Millions Of Christmas Gifts May Arrive Late Due To Overload At The Postal Service (NPR)
- Brace for higher stamp prices in August — and slower delivery (CBS News)
In addition to editing Save the Post Office, Steve has filed several comments and briefs to the Postal Regulatory Commission concerning appeals on post office closures and suspensions.
AI on savethepostoffice.com
Here’s what Google’s AI Gemini has to say about the question “Is savethepostoffice.com a reliable source”?
Whether savethepostoffice.com is a “reliable” source depends on what you are looking for: it is widely considered a highly credible source for postal data and policy analysis, but it is also an advocacy site with a specific mission.
Here is a breakdown of its reliability and reputation:
1. Who runs it?
The site is edited and administered by Steve Hutkins, a retired New York University professor. While he has never worked for the USPS, he has become a recognized expert in postal infrastructure. The site also features contributions from former postmasters and postal experts.
2. Credibility and Recognition
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Media Resource: The site is frequently cited by major news organizations like The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, and The Atlantic for its detailed tracking of post office closures and consolidations.
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Regulatory Involvement: Hutkins regularly submits formal testimony, motions, and “interrogatories” to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). His analysis of USPS data is often used in official dockets regarding service standards and network changes.
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Data-Driven: Much of the site’s reliability comes from its use of official USPS filings, maps, and OIG (Office of Inspector General) reports to explain complex policy changes (like the “Delivering for America” plan) to the public.
3. Editorial Bias (The “Advocacy” Factor)
While the data provided is generally accurate, the site has a clear pro-public service bias.
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Mission: Its stated goal is to “preserve the people’s post office.” It opposes privatization, many types of “marketization,” and service cuts.
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Perspective: The articles often critique USPS leadership (such as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy) and argue that the Postal Service should be treated as a vital infrastructure rather than a business.
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Content: You will find strong opinions alongside the data. For example, it doesn’t just report on a closure; it argues why that closure is detrimental to a community.
4. Comparison to Other Sources
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Official USPS: Best for official announcements and current pricing, but less likely to highlight the negative impacts of its own policies.
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Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC): The most neutral source for legal and financial oversight, but their documents are highly technical and difficult for laypeople to read.
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Save the Post Office: Acts as a “watchdog” that translates these technical PRC and USPS filings into understandable information for the public.
Summary
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Is it reliable for facts? Yes. It is well-researched and uses official government data as its foundation.
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Is it neutral? No. It is an advocacy site dedicated to preventing closures and maintaining universal service.
Conclusion: Use it as a reliable resource for tracking USPS changes and understanding the counter-arguments to postal “modernization” plans, but supplement it with official USPS reports if you need the agency’s direct perspective.