Staten Island's Postmark In Jeopardy

Yesterday, the U.S.P.S. announced a number of cost-saving measures—closing six of 80 district offices and offering 150,000 employees early retirement— to save $100 million annually. The U.S.P.S., which had a $2.8 billion deficit in 2008, is reviewing other cuts, and Senator Charles Schumer is defending Staten Island's mail processing at the Manor Road Post Office, where all of the borough's mail gets its postmark. The U.S.P.S. is considering moving outgoing mail processing (and 300 employees) to Brooklyn or Queens; the P.O. would stay open, but the Staten Island Advance points out, "Letters addressed to Staten Island then would be brought back by truck for distribution here." Schumer' wrote to the Postmaster General, "It is unacceptable that the United States Post Office is even considering shutting down the outgoing mail facility at the Manor Road Post Office ... During this economic crisis, transferring these workers to Brooklyn or Queens would cost them time, transportation costs and could damage the quality of [mail] delivery for Staten Island." Image of one of the USPS's new polar bear stamps; stamp prices will go up on May 11

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By Jen Chung in News on March 21, 2009 10:59 AM

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ANGRYGOD11

The USPS is easy to attack, but tell me: What can you get for 42 cents today? For that amount most European countries you can drive across in less than an hour won't delivery the mail.

Everyone has horror stories, but so do FedEx and UPS customers. DHL dropped American domestic service, so no more complaints about them.

NannyState

DHL was actually pretty damn good. The worst is UPS which hires the dumbest guys on earth to try to figure out where to deliver your package and whether or not to bother even showing up.

ides_of_march

The USPS could save a lot of money by no longer giving their clerks valium every shift. They must be popping them like Skittles. Deep sea divers move faster rummaging around shipwrecks.

Spirit of 76

The USPS is a shining example of government inefficiency. I've had a postcard take 8 months to travel about a half mile. I just had a Parcel Post package sit in a sorting facility for two days (according to "tracking" information) before it finally got sent the final three miles for delivery. PO boxes now cost over four times what they did 20 years ago. That's a lot more than the rate of inflation. Can anyone point out what else costs 4x more nowadays?

Let USPS go bankrupt then allow competition by private companies.