Residents, Businesses Rally For Prince Street Post Office

A group of residents, businesses, lawmakers and others rallied outside the Prince Street Post Office (located on Greene Street) in Soho. The U.S. Postal Service has been considering closing the branch when its lease expires in July, but the group points out, "The Worst Post Office is Better Than No Post Office!" As 66 Square Feet said, "It is not unusual to wait in line for forty minutes. The mutters of dissent in the queue regularly approach the level of mutiny, strangers bonding in intense frustration."

The Soho Alliance's Sean Sweeney explains, "[The post office] had occupied for eighty years the Apple SoHo building, but was relegated to a tiny space around the corner in the same building when Apple moved in. Immediately, service suffered. It must be the most congested post office in the city, if not the country. SoHo is a booming commercial district in need of its own post office. Already long lines are common at Prince Street, up to an hour long. Yet USPS cut the hours last year... The nearest post office is almost half a mile away." He also sent us these photos from today, where Tax Day filings brought a line of people that snaked inside the post office and onto the street—apparently the line wasn't helped by just having three workers available.

Sweeney says that Rep. Jerrold Nadler is trying to help save the post office. More photos of the demonstration at Curbed.

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By Jen Chung in News on April 15, 2009 6:03 PM

Comments [rss]

SimbaPenn

I live in the general vicinity of Prince St. PO and got a postcard in the mail yesterday that it would cease operation on Friday, June 5. It (the work) will be transferred to the Canal St. PO at 350 Canal St.

The postcard goes on about market rents, blah blah blah.

alysonwonderland

This PO is only tolerable if you are using the Automated machine and do not need to see an actual person. Otherwise it is totally worth walking the half mile (OMG 8 minutes of walking!) to the one on Varick, which is pretty efficient and organized. (less than 10 minute wait on line for tax day).

spiritross

People think just because its in a Rich - yuppie neighborhood it should be completely efficient?

Once again Suck it Up or get out

Its the post office of course its going to be dysfunctional

These are the same people that complain that the slides at city parks are too hot for their children during the summer

Mr. Vos

There are worse P.O.s in the city. The branch in Williamsburg is a fucking joke. Seriously, you can wait up to an hour on a good day...and forget it if you are there to retrieve a package. The clerks are seemingly retarded (or extremely LAZY). I've given up going there all together.

JacqueMehoff

this is why I like the new renovated church street PO station by WTC. large, airy space makes one feel less claustrophobic. too bad the USPS did away with vending machines, but the wait ain't so bad.

citizenerased

"It is not unusual to wait in line for forty minutes. The mutters of dissent in the queue regularly approach the level of mutiny, strangers bonding in intense frustration."

This happens at most Post Offices in the city cos the level of service is a fucking joke.

virgilstarkwell

you would think that someone who speaks on behalf of the soho alliance would know that restoration hardware took over after the post office moved out - not apple.

additionally, he says that the post office is "relegated to a tiny space around the corner". this makes it sound like big, bad, restoration hardware came and booted the poor, little u.s. government agency out as if they were an aging rent-stabilized tenant. i don't know the details (and clearly neither does he) but i'm assuming that the government owned the building and sold it to restoration hardware. i really doubt that this maker of fancy towel rods put a gun to the head of the head of the post office and forced them to make this deal.

estragon

"[The post office] had occupied for eighty years the Apple SoHo building, but was relegated to a tiny space around the corner in the same building when Apple moved in..."

Sorry, no. The post office was displaced by a branch of the Restoration Hardware retail chain. It was only after Restoration Hardware closed that Apple acquired the space.