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SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. Local residents expressed concern after the U.S. Postal Service included Sleepy Hollows post office on a list of 3,653 branches, stations and offices that it will consider for closure.
They dont want the Beekman Ave. branch to be shut down.
Its going to pose a hardship if the branch is shut down, Dudley Barnes said.
Barnes visits the post office every day to bring the mail from Phelps Hospital. He says he comes to the post office because it has good service and plenty of parking.
Theres no parking over there, he said of Tarrytowns Post Office, which is located directly on Route 9. Barnes sometimes has four or five buckets of mail from the Hospital.
The move does not automatically mean Sleepy Hollow will lose its post office. The Associated Press reported Tuesday the Postal Service had announced in January that it was reviewing 1,400 sites for closure: 280 have been closed and 200 have been kept open so far.
Locals served by the Sleepy Hollow branch have 60 days to file a comment with the Postal Service. If the branch is closed, locals can appeal to the Postal Regulatory Commission.
The Postal Service is using the review list as part of its efforts to tailor its services to the habits of users as fewer customers choose to conduct business at brick nd mortar post offices.
Today, more than 35 percent of the Postal Services retail revenue comes from expanded access locations such as grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, retail chains, self-service kiosks, ATMs and usps.com, open 24/7, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a press release. Our customers habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business.
Customers and one employee at the Sleepy Hollow Post Office, however, disagree.
Post Office Clerk Ather Adams said the Sleepy Hollow branch was always busy. He noted that residents of Tarrytown, Irvington and Ossining also come to his branch.
They say the lines are long, Adams said. Theyre all coming down here. I never get a breather.
Kristine Deleg lives on Beekman Ave., just up the street from the post office. Shes been going to that post office since she moved to Sleepy Hollow in 1994. She says if the branch closes, it would be an inconvenience.
Its very useful, she said. I never go to Tarrytown. I go to Sleepy Hollow.
Deleg also expressed concern about the branchs employees, saying she hoped they dont lose their jobs.
Lorraine Taylor came to the post office on Tuesday afternoon. She comes to the branch regularly, she said.
Its going to be a hassle for me to go down to Tarrytown if the branch closes, she said. But if I have to, what can you do?
Barnes said he didnt think the Postal Service would close the branch.
I really dont think theyre going to close this facility because it takes in a lot of business for the Postal Service, he said.
Do you use the physical post office regularly? How would its closing affect you?
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