The United States Postal Service announced Tuesday that it is considering shutting down about 3,700 post offices around the country -- and 34 offices in New York City are on that list.
You can see the list here.
The Bronx tops the list of possible closures, with 17. Manhattan has six, Brooklyn and Queens both have five and Staten Island has one. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz said he is “extremely concerned” with how the closings could affect his district.
“The Bronx cannot afford such a considerable loss of both jobs and commercial activity, and the federal government must seriously reconsider enacting any post office closure plan that would have a serious negative impact on Bronx communities,” Diaz said.
Just because an office is under consideration for closure doesn’t necessarily mean it will close, officials said.
The post office announced in January that it was reviewing 1,400 offices for closure. So far, 280 have been closed and 200 have finished the review process and will remain open.
The USPS operates close to 32,000 retail outlets across the country, which is down from 38,000 a decade ago. In recent years, the post office has been battling its main competitor, the Internet, as business declined and first-class mail moved online.
The recession also took a bite out of revenue, with USPS posting a loss of more than $8 billion last year. Much of that was attributed to a loss of advertising mail.
“It’s no secret that the Postal Service is looking to change the way we do a lot of things,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahue said at a briefing. “We do feel that we are still relevant to the American public and the economy, but we have to make some tough choices.”
Other tough choices postal officials are facing include looking to reduce mail delivery to five days a week. This comes after some 130,000 staff members were cut over the last four years. The agency has also suspended payments into its pension fund and eliminated bonuses and performance awards for managers and executives.
The potential closing of local offices, branches and stations doesn’t mark the end of snail mail delivery in your neighborhood. The USPS wants to replace its retail outlets with Village Post Offices in which postal services are offered in local stores, libraries or government offices.
