Community Rallies to Save Post Office

Christine Pitawanich, NCC News

September 30, 2009

Syracuse, N.Y. - The North Syracuse community could soon lose a local landmark that is more than 100 years old. On South Main Street, Monday afternoon, more than 50 people rallied to save their post office. Many of them were frustrated because they don’t want their neighborhood post office to close.

“A lot of us don’t drive.”

A number of senior citizens lined the sidewalk in front of the post office. They argued that if the post office on South Main Street closes, they will have a hard time trying to the get to the next closest post office on Taft Road…about 1.5 miles away.

Many of the seniors at the rally expressed concern at the idea of travelling farther to get to a post office.

“Terrible, a lot of us don’t drive,” said Tony Piccioto, a North Syracuse resident. “[Many have] wheelchairs, walkers…so I think it’s very important they stay open.”

Lee Cook, a 95 year old woman living in North Syracuse agreed. Cook said she wasn’t sure how she would get to the Taft Road post office.

“I have used this post office for over 80 years,” said Cook. “I don’t know how you get over to the post office other than drive, a lot of people don’t drive and we can’t walk that far.”

It Boils Down to Money

Congressman Dan Maffei also showed his support and attended the rally. Maffei said closing the post office would be bad for the neighborhood.

“This post office is part of the fabric of this community. It’s where a lot of the seniors go, it’s where kids go when they first learn to mail a letter,” said the congressman. “Take it away and you think you can try to save money, but the truth is you’re going to end up having far less business. That’s not going to be good for the post office and it’s going to be devastating for this community.”

The post office is in danger of closing because of the recent effort to scale down operations in order to cut costs. Across the nation, there are hundreds of locationsthat face possible closure.

Too Early to Rally?

Spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service, Maureen Marion, said it was too early to hold public demonstrations. She added that they get people worked up for nothing.

“At this juncture, it’s premature for those exercises because we have a component for public input,” Marion said. “We may be on the same page and just not know it,” she continued.

According to Marion, no decisions have been made about the North Syracuse post office. The final word is not expected for at least another 2-3 months. The only other Syracuse post office that is under review for closure is the Elmwood branch.