Yesterday two of the country’s most significant historic post offices — the 1916 Berkeley post office and the 1935 Bronx GPO — came a step closer to being sold. Mr. Tom Samra, USPS Vice President, Facilities, rendered his final decision on the Berkeley post office. The Postal Service will relocate retail services to a yet-to-be-determined location, and the historic building … Read More
Legacy at risk: The OIG audits the Postal Service’s disposal of historic properties
The USPS Office of Inspector General is preparing an audit report about the sale of historic post office buildings. The objective of the study is “to review the Postal Service’s process and plans for the disposal and preservation of historic properties.” The OIG poses two main questions: “Do you think the Postal Service follows proper procedures when disposing of historic … Read More
Relocating the Dana Point post office: What’s the point?
The Postal Service has decided to relocate its postal facility in Dana Point, California. The Postal Service currently owns a 20,000-square-foot building housing a retail post office and a carrier operation, but postal officials say they need only 11,000 square feet, so they want to sell the building and lease a smaller space. Diana Alvarado, manager of property management for … Read More
Historic Norristown PA post office to be sold
The U.S. Postal Service has announced plans to sell the Norristown Post Office at 28 E. Airy St. and relocate the retail services to a nearby building. The post office was built in 1940 under the New Deal, and it’s a landmark in downtown Norristown, but the opportunity for the public to comment will be limited. Since it’s a “relocation” decision, … Read More
Postal Service to La Jolla: Sorry, the dismantling must go on
The Postal Service has issued a Final Determination to relocate retail services in La Jolla, California, thus paving the way for the eventual sale of the historic New Deal post office. Tom Samra, Vice President, Facilities, was responsible for reviewing the appeals, and not unexpectedly, he came to the same decision that he made regarding the relocation of the Bronx … Read More
Final Blow: Postal Service issues ‘final determination’ to sell La Jolla’s post office
The day after La Jollans celebrated their country’s independence with a fireworks display at the cove, the Postal Service tacked a notice to the Wall Street post office that many La Jollans consider decidedly unpatriotic — USPS’s “final determination” of plans to sell the historic building at 1140 Wall St. Community members who have been working to keep postal services … Read More
USPS to Bronx: Drop dead — the GPO must go
The Postal Service has decided to go ahead with the sale of the historic Bronx General Post Office. Tom Samra, Vice President of Facilities for the USPS, has issued his “Final Decision for Relocation of Retail Services in Bronx, New York.” (A copy is here.) The Bronx GPO is on the National Register of Historic Places, it's an official New … Read More
Relocating the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office: What happened to partnering with the public?
The Postal Service is shutting down New York City’s Peter Stuyvesant Station at 432 East 14th Street and relocating retail services about a block away. When it does a relocation like this, the Postal Service is supposed to follow section 241.4 of the Code of Federal Regulations on “Expansion, relocation, and construction of post offices." But it appears that the law … Read More
New York’s Greeley Square Post Office gets a new location: Who knew?
Greeley Square is a small triangular park in New York City, bounded by West 32nd and West 33rd Streets, and Broadway and Sixth Avenue. It’s a charming spot in a bustling area, with tables and chairs, a food kiosk, and a surprising number of trees for a small square on Broadway. I’ve walked by Greeley Square hundreds of times, a … Read More
The writing on the wall in Reading: The Postal Service pulls a fast one
The Postal Service is putting another historic post office up for sale, and as usual it's showing little interest in hearing from the public or following the law. Selling off historic post offices isn't easy. Not only does the Postal Service need to find a buyer willing to take on the encumbrances associated with a historic building; there are … Read More
Dismantling the legacy: More post office suspensions, relocations, and sales
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The Postal Service is continuing its push to dismantle the country’s vast network of brick-and-mortar post offices. Post offices are being suspended over minor lease disputes, historic buildings are being sold to the highest bidder, and retail services are being moved to smaller, usually less convenient locations. Post offices just don’t seem very important to the leadership of the Postal … Read More
What’s up in the Heights? The Postal Service relocates a post office, forgets to tell anyone
Over the past few weeks, there have been several meetings in New York City about the Postal Service’s plans to close historic post offices and move retail services to smaller spaces. Not many people attended the first of them — about the Bronx General Post Office — because it was held in the morning and with little advance notice. … Read More
Binding the nation together: Berkeley and the Bronx join forces to save the post office
For our Founding Fathers, post offices and post roads played an essential role in “binding our nation together.” Congress reaffirmed that vision when it passed the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970: “The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together.” The leaders of the Postal Service appear to have … Read More
Historic La Jolla Post Office headed for closure & sale
Despite a very well organized resistance effort that's been going on for over a year, the Postal Service has decided to go ahead with the sale of the historic post office on 1140 Wall Street in La Jolla, California. The final decision to relocate retail services was posted today on the wall of the La Jolla post office. … Read More
Postal Service looks to close five large New York City Post Offices
Five large post offices in New York may be closed over the coming months. Most likely, retail services will be relocated to smaller spaces in the neighborhood, and several hundred letter carriers who work out of the back of the buildings will be transferred to other postal facilities. The closures would have a dramatic impact on their communities, and the … Read More
A done deal in Derby: The Postal Service decides first, consults later, ignores the law
On Monday, the Postal Service announced that “it is considering plans” to sell the historic post office in Derby, Connecticut. Such a sale requires a formal review process, and the Postal Service has taken the first steps in that process by informing city officials and the public of its plans. The process involves a fairly complicated legal procedure, and it … Read More