Mayor Fights to Keep Post Office Open

Borough officials continue to take steps to try to save the .

After learning recently that , Mayor Rose Heck took action once again addressing the USPS in writing, with multiple reasons as to why it should stay open.

Last month USPS officials reported that some area post offices including Wood-Ridge, East Rutherford and Carlstadt were no longer being considered for closure. USPS officials said the fate of the Hasbrouck Heights post office was still not determined.

Heck addressed a letter to Robert Schultz, USPS manager consumer and industry contact, asking him to “make every effort to keep our Post Office open and functioning here in Hasbrouck Heights. It is also important to local businesses and the municipality as a shipping and pick up point.”

Senior citizens and residents who do not drive are easily able to reach the post office by foot, the mayor wrote. It is also centrally located on the Boulevard, a major thoroughfare for access to many South Bergen towns, Heck stated in her letter.

The mayor also pointed out that the office has been a part of the borough since the 1920s and has become “a permanent fixture” in the central business district.

She believes that doing away with this post office location will bring on undue stress, loss of services and will affect the health and well being of Heights citizens and those in surrounding communities.

Councilman Justin DiPisa said during the council meeting Tuesday that the post master and postal workers at the Heights office are aware of the municipality’s support. DiPisa added that it is believed Heights may be the only borough that has come out publicly in an effort to save its post office.     

A decision on the fate of the Heights office is not expected at least until after May 15. George B. Flood, the USPS northern New Jersey spokesperson, told Patch in March that on closing or consolidating postal offices or processing facilities until after that date to allow Congress and administration time to come up with an alternative.

The USPS announced last year it would to determine if some need to be consolidated and closed. Hasbrouck Heights is among the list of approximately 3,700 retail post offices nationwide.