Heights Post Office Fate Should be on the Horizon

The fate of the should be decided soon as the May 15 “moratorium” deadline is approaching and the United States Postal Service has now announced it no longer plans to close post offices in some areas.

The USPS agreed in December it would not make any decision to close any post offices or facilities until after May 15 in order to give Congress time to find an alternative, a spokesperson told Patch previously.

On Wednesday, the USPS announced a plan that it would not close up to 3,700 post offices in rural areas and will instead plan to reduce hours at up to 13,000 rural post offices, according to The Wall Street Journal. It was not clear if rural areas is meant to include post offices in areas like Hasbrouck Heights, which has been one of the branches being studied for possible closure or consolidation.

The borough has made several attempts to try to save its post office. Mayor Rose Heck has previously written to the USPS representatives citing numerous reasons for why the Heights office should remain open.  

A response from USPS representative Robert Schultz dated April 30 to Mayor Heck states that a decision had not been made. The letter also reiterated the Postal Services reasons for conducting the study pointing out that changes in customer purchasing habits has diminished the need for a “nationwide network of 32,000 brick and mortar Post Offices.”

In March, post offices in Carlstadt, East Rutherford and Wood-Ridge, which were also on the retail study list, were told they were no longer being considered for closure.

The USPS made the announcement that it would study the retail needs of 3,700 post offices nationwide last July.