Signs of life for shuttered U.S. Post Office in Sound Beach

The Sound Beach Post Office — closed for roughly two years — may finally be on its way to reopening.

The U.S. Postal Service vacated its rented outpost in the tiny hamlet in 2023 because of structural problems with the building, a USPS spokesperson said at the time. The landlord later sued in federal court alleging Uncle Sam had not paid rent in months.

Friday on Facebook, U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) said the Postal Service "and the landlord have reached an agreement to move forward with critical repairs." 

Added LaLota, who had sent multiple letters to Postmaster Louis DeJoy, proposing alternatives to shuttering the New York Avenue post office and asking for a timeline for restoration of services: "This saga isn’t over — but it’s a real step in the right direction."

"Some really, really, really good news" was how Sound Beach Civic Association president Bea Ruberto put it in an email to residents, who have spent the intervening 24 months schlepping to the Miller Place Post Office about 2 miles away to access Post Office Boxes and other postal services. Home mail delivery was never suspended, but Ruberto said residents missed walking to a post office where they saw their neighbors and knew the postal workers.

In February 2024, Sixteen Broadway Corp., the landlord for the Sound Beach Post Office, sued the federal government, alleging it owed $40,775.23 in back rent, plus interest. But now the lawsuit appears headed toward an amicable resolution.

"The parties are pleased to report that they have executed a settlement agreement to settle all claims in this matter," attorneys for both sides wrote in a May 22 court filing. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the court filing, which noted the parties anticipated a subsequent filing for dismissal.

In an email Monday, USPS spokesperson Amy Gibbs said: "The Postal Service does not discuss details pertaining to lease negotiations."

Allison Furman, a Manhattan-based lawyer for the landlord, did not respond to messages seeking comment. The Postal Service rents more than 1,400 leased facilities in New York State, and 25,300 nationwide, according to USPS online database.

It was unclear when the Sound Beach Post Office might reopen for business, how much the repairs would cost or who will pay for them, though LaLota said in his Facebook post the project would go out to bid soon.

Sixteen Broadway bought the 3,360-square-foot post office building in 2014 for $950,000, according to USPS and property records. Residents said the post office had operated out of the building since the 1980s.

Ruberto, in an interview, said that when it was open, Sound Beach's post office had played the role of a town square for her Brookhaven Town hamlet of about 7,200, which has no downtown and few large gathering places.

"I can’t tell you how many times I would go to the post office and somebody would say some issue they were having in the community that they hoped the civic association would take on," she said. "A lot of people would meet there."

Having spent "a phenomenal amount of time" on the phone in the last two years with staffers from the offices of the hamlet’s elected representatives, Ruberto said she would turn her energy toward area roads. "Sound Beach has a lot of small side streets, which sometimes get repaired rather than repaved. ... Beyond that, we don’t have any major issues."