Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Post office branches in the City of Syracuse and the Village of North Syracuse remain on an updated list of post office branches that could close.
The branches, located on Main Street in North Syracuse and Elmwood Avenue in Syracuse were targeted when the United States Postal Service came out with its closure list back in August.
The USPS updated the list on Friday and said only 241 of the more than 3600 originally considered were still under review.
USPS spokeswoman Maureen Marion says a final decision isn’t likely until early next year.
The possible closure of both locations has drawn outcry from residents and political leaders.
Unlike most federal agencies, America’s national mail system receives no tax subsidy for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. The Postal Service reported a loss of $3.8 billion at the end of its 2009 fiscal year in October.
North Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Plans to possibly close their post office have gotten plenty of people in North Syracuse upset. Friday, they had a chance to tell postal officials directly why it should stay open.
A few dozen made their pleas for keeping the mail flowing in and out of the post office in the middle of the village.
Mary Anne is the sole worker at the facility, and the people that use the post office wanted to make sure they'll still be able to use her services. “An awful lot of us find it very convenient to have a post office on Main Street, ya know? Without things like that, we're just a bunch of buildings beside the road.”
All of the comments at Friday’s study session will be combined with written comments as part of the package postal officials will use to decide whether to keep the North Syracuse office and 370 other branches and stations open or not.
“This is an opportunity to really personalize and put a local flavor on each of the individual packages so I think its going to have quite a weight,” said Maureen Marion, post office spokesperson.
People who spoke at the meeting tried making their pitch to keep the office open. “We do have a large senior population. I think part of the draw for people to live here was having very localized services and it would be unfortunate to lose it."
A lot of people mentioned the sidewalks in the village, and about the convenience of the location to walk to. It's not just the residents that are worried about the closing, it's the businesses too.
"The many PO box holders at this location would be severely inconvenienced by having to move to Taft Road and it will also be costly, let's face it changing your address on your business card, on your web site, all your stationary,” one speaker said.
People will have ten more days to send in written comments to the Post Office's Consumer Affairs Office in Albany. The address for comments is Consumer Affairs, 30 Old Karner Road, Albany, NY 12288.
Folks could know as soon as early January the fate of the North Syracuse post office.
Postal officials also held a similar session Friday for the Elmwood Station post office in Syracuse which is also being considered for consolidation.
