Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement following the announcement by the U.S. Postal Service to delay any closing or consolidation of any Post Office or mail processing facility until May 15, 2012.  Rep. Engel has recently criticized the U.S. Postal Service for singling out post offices for closure, and considering slashing hundreds of thousands of jobs, while failing to identify root causes for their massive debt.

“I am encouraged to see the Postal Service has chosen to listen to the rising chorus of voices from across the country urging it to stop trying to plug their financial gaps by cutting an essential service to the American people.  Seniors and working families in New York, and around the nation, would be most affected by the loss of the local post office.  Instead, the Post Office should find ways to save money which do not cause hardships for the many residents who are not able to easily travel to distant locations.

“Thankfully, the potential closing of the post offices in our district (Cranford, Spuyten Duyvil, Hillside, Van Cott, Fieldston, Sandford Station, Yonkers South), and the Monsey Mail Processing Facility, will be on hold for now.  I will continue to fight the plan to consider these locations for closing.  The Post Office must understand that it cannot fix its financial woes by making access to post offices more difficult and inconvenient.  This is a business plan designed for failure.”

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