USPS Hearing Set for Tuesday November 22

November 18, 2011 –  New York City. The New York Metro Area Postal Union, community groups and elected officials will appear at a hearing called by the United States Postal Service on the potential closing of Lincolnton post office in Harlem at 2268 Fifth Avenue at 138th Street on Tuesday, November 22nd.  The hearing will take place in the station’s lobby from 6-8pm.  Concerned community members and postal workers will be assembling for an informational picket outside the station beginning at 5:30pm.

The USPS is using its manufactured financial crisis as a pretext for the shrinking of the Postal Service by closing thousands of post offices across the nation. The cutting of services disproportionately impacts  the people who depend upon the postal service the most: the elderly, the disabled, the poor and small business owners.

The USPS schedules “sham” hearings to supposedly get input from the public.  It has become evident from the conduct of previous hearings that the USPS is only going through the motions to meet its statutory requirements. The Postal Service doesn’t record by audio or video the testimony of participants. In most cases the decision has already been made to close the post office while the USPS attempts hold hearings under the radar, doing as little as possible to publicize the hearings to the public, elected officials and the media.

What:   Hearing on the Closing of Lincolnton Post Office
When:  Tuesday, November 22, 2011 from 6-8pm
Where: Lincolnton Post Office, 2268 Fifth Avenue at 138th Street, Harlem, New York City
Why:     Community input on the decision to close Lincolnton Post Office
Who:    Representatives of the United States Postal Service, community members, New York Metro Area  Postal Union, elected officials

Chuck Zlatkin
Legislative and Political Director
New York Metro Area Postal Union,
APWU, AFL-CIO
350 West 31st Street, 3rd floor
New York, NY 10001
917-693-9427