BY KAITLYN MEADE | The John Street Post Office reopened on Friday, almost a week ahead of schedule. Residents were notified of the change with fliers delivered along with their mail.
The facility at 114 John St., a few blocks from the Seaport, was without power and reportedly heat in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, leaving residents East of Broadway in a postal bind. Packages had to be picked up and dropped off at 90 Church St., a 15-minute or so walk from John Street, as did any mail from the facility’s P.O. boxes.
The Church Street station was having its own problems. Southbridge Towers resident Michael Altman said he stopped by to pick up the mail from his John Street P.O. box and waited for 45 minutes — and only one person was served in that time.
Paul Hovitz and other concerned residents of Southbridge Towers brought up the problem at a recent Community Board 1 meeting. A representative of U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s office reported that a mobile unit should have been stationed on the street. But some checking on Hovitz’s part confirmed that the mobile unit, which was scheduled to be up and running by Nov. 19, was not in place until ten days later.
Nadler’s office went to work, contacting the Postmaster General to get a mobile unit in place and expedite the process of reopening the John Street location. Ilan Kayatsky, communications director for Congressman Nadler’s office wrote in an email to Downtown Express that they intended to “sort out exactly why results and communication have been so problematic on this issue.”
Within the week, the John Street office was reported up and running.
“I have to give credit to the Congressman and staff for pressing the issue,” said Hovitz.
