Brighton Beach Post Office Saved… Again!

The Brighton Beach Post Office (3157 Coney Island Avenue) has been on the chopping block for more than two years, but it and four other Brooklyn post offices have escaped closure yet again.

The announcement was made by Don Brown, Community Board 15’s liaison to the post office, during the board’s meeting on Tuesday. We asked Brown to elaborate, and he explained the situation by e-mail:

First and foremost let me make it clear about my reporting.  I am not a United States Postal Service (USPS) employee nor a representative thereof.  My position is one of a delegate from Community Board #15 to the USPS’ Consumer Advisory Council, who meets with the Brooklyn Post Office’s  Officer In Charge, his staff and delegates from other Brooklyn Community Boards.   I’ve prefaced my response with a caveat for journalistic purposes.

My report to Community Board #15, on 11/29/11, was meant to reflect the fact that the USPS had completed a study of the possible closing of five (5) postal offices in our Borough.  There are more than 3,000 offices being studied for closing throughout the country.  When I mentioned locally, I was expressing the fact that Brooklyn’s reasons for maintaining continued service ( for the 5 local stations in Brooklyn) had passed muster and thus the Brighton Beach Station had been saved.  There is always the possibility that a review by the Nation’s Postmaster, in Washington, DC could result in further reviews down the road.  But for now, it appears that the Brooklyn Post Offices have escaped, unscathed.  The City or State has no role in this process.  Some of the main areas that are critiqued are; customer traffic, revenue generation & alternative options in the neighborhood (such as businesses that are contracted by USPS to provide limited services such as the sale of stamps, postcards and packages).

The Brighton Beach Post Office was first slated to close in 2009, when new landlords took over the building and pushed higher rents that the post office could not afford. The government increased the pressure by targeting it for closure for financial reasons. It did ultimately sign a five-year lease, but a postal review continued to eye it for closure as local leaders pleaded with the Postmaster General to keep it open.

The latest study indicates the Brighton Beach Post Office, and the nearby post offices that would be forced to pick up its clientele, has been spared to government’s budget axe.