By Joe Anuta
The U.S. Postal Service has taken its Holliswood office off a list of locations being considered for closure, according to U.S. Rep. Gay Ackerman (D-Bayside).
The office, at 197-33 Hillside Ave., still appears on the USPS website as being studied for closure as the postal giant tries to cut costs, but Ackerman said it was recently removed.
“The decision to keep the Holliswood Post Office open is terrific news,” said Ackerman. “Now local residents can continue to take advantage of the convenience and important postal services that this neighborhood branch provides.”
Over the summer, the USPS announced it would close offices around the country and convert them to what they called Village Post Offices, which would take the place of current facilities in thousands of communities across the country.
The Village Post Offices would be within existing businesses in a neighborhood instead of operating on their own. The USPS projected the move could help close its budget gap, since it does not receive taxpayer dollars to operate, but is fully funded by selling items like stamps and charging other postage rates.
The USPS also said the public was not using its offices enough to justify keeping them open, but Ackerman had argued the Holliswood location did good business.
With $520,725 in revenue for fiscal year 2010, he said it outperformed thousands of other branches.
Last September, Ackerman sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and Postal Regulatory Commission Chairwoman Ruth Goldway, urging them to keep the Holliswood location open.
“The Holliswood branch serves a densely populated area that would be drastically affected if it were to close,” Ackerman said in the letter.
The victory comes four months after another post office in Queens was taken off the list.
In October, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) praised the USPS’s decision to take the Grand Post Office, at 45-08 30th Ave., off the list.
The Astoria office, along with the Holliswood location, were two of five post offices on the chopping block.
Now only three post offices in the borough face conversion to Village Post Offices: Rosedale, at 145-06 253rd St.; Arverne, at 329 Beach 59th St.; and Rockaway Beach, at 90-14 Rockaway Beach Blvd.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
