Setauket post office in danger of closure
The historic Setauket post office on Main Street is on a list of 3,700 post offices around the country being considered for closure by the United States Postal Service. (Aug. 26, 2011) Credit: John Dunn
A slice of Americana in Setauket is in danger.
The historic Setauket post office on Main Street, which some residents see as the heart of their neighborhood, is on a list of 3,700 post offices around the country being considered for closure by the United States Postal Service.
At a rally in front of the post office last week, Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) said the 20 or so residents gathered around him showed the value of the institution.
"This is obviously a point of gathering, a point of cohesion for this community," he said.
The post office, built in the 1940s in a Greek revival grandeur that belies its compact size, is in the National Registry of Historic Places.
It replaced a post office down Main Street that had served the community for 230 years, Bishop said in a letter to postmaster general and chief executive Patrick Donahoe.
Next to the post office is the site of the Revolutionary War's Battle of Setauket in 1777, now the Frank Melville Memorial Park. Together, they form a historic -- and bucolic -- corner of the neighborhood.
If the Setauket branch closes, residents would be directed to use the East Setauket branch instead, and "some of the seniors who use this post office will be cut off from postal services," said Assemb. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket).
USPS spokeswoman Maureen Marion said a local task force is examining the Setauket branch's customer traffic and its usefulness, and postal officials plan to hold a public meeting to ask for input from the public.
"There will be fact-finding by the local post office group, including historic revenue" and workload analysis for an individual post office, she said. "The dialogue begins with the public very quickly."
But the people at last week's rally said there are some things that can't be measured.
"Budget people know the cost of everything but the value of nothing," Bishop said.
John Emmel, 56, a postal employee who lives in Blue Point and works at the Levittown branch, held up a poster reading "Post Office -- The American Tradition" with a stamp logo.
"To me, it doesn't cost anything to run this post office," he said, pointing out that one clerk works in the Setauket branch.
Tim Glynn, president of the Frank Melville Memorial Park board, said five years ago the community donated more than $150,000 to restore the post office building.
And he said he didn't know what would become of the building if the post office is closed. "It was built to be a post office," Glynn said. "That's its function."
Alice D'Amico lives a block away and walks to the post office frequently. "This is our downtown. This is where we see our neighbors," she said.
"This is small town American life," Glynn said. "There's more communication that goes on here than in the mail."
Possible closures
In addition to the Setauket post office, these branches are on the USPS's list of possible closures:
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