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SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. The fight to save the Sleepy Hollow Post Office is one news event that will continue into 2012.
Local officials and residents were shocked in July when the U.S. Postal Service announced that it had placed the Sleepy Hollow Post Office on a list of branches to be studied for possible closure. That review is ongoing, with community comments due Jan. 4.
Postal officials noted that many customers were choosing to use alternative means to shop, such as going online instead of to their actual branch. They also noted the Postal Service itself was losing a large amount of money because people weren't using its services as much as they used to.
When it was announced, Post Office Clerk Ather Adams said the Sleepy Hollow branch was always busy. He noted that residents of Tarrytown, Irvington and Ossining also come to his branch.
They say the lines are long, Adams said. Theyre all coming down here. I never get a breather.
Local officials began a campaign to save the post office, putting a petition online and at the Post Office. The petition garnered more than 2,000 signatures. Officials also contacted state and national politicians in the hopes that they could help stop the measure.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D N.Y.) was one such representative who made strides to stop area post offices from closing. Gillibrand and the U.S. Postal Service announced in December that it wouldn't close any branches until May 2012, a five-month delay.
When postal officials came to Sleepy Hollow to speak at a public hearing at Village Hall, a large crowd of angry residents came to protest the possible closure. They argued the Sleepy Hollow Post Office was always packed and it was more convenient than the Tarrytown Post Office because it is on the ground floor and has plenty of parking.
Village Historian Henry Steiner told officials he senses a consensus from the group that you picked the wrong post office to consider.
The Sleepy Hollow Post Office is older than the village, he said, later adding, It's woven into the fabric of this community.
The U.S. Postal Service expects to make a decision on the Sleepy Hollow Post Office sometime in 2012.
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