There’s a rally at 259 Main St. on Oct. 4th
It appears that the U.S. Postal Service has begun the process of closing post offices across the nation — according to The Washington Post, some 677 were slated for closure in 2023.
Locally, the question becomes “will the Highland Falls Post Office be among those that is shuttered?”
Highland Falls Mayor Joe D’Onofrio is worried that it is, for two reasons he said this week. The first is the significant storm damage the building sustained during the July 9 flood here and the fact that it has been closed since then. Since that point, all local postal operations — i.e. Highland Falls’ mail — have taken place out of the Fort Montgomery Post Office.
The second reason, he said he learned this week, is that the property and building have recently been sold.
“We want it opened back up again,” the mayor said as he announced that the Highlanders Senior Citizens Club is hosting a rally at the Highland Falls Post Office location at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4. “We have a lot of walkers in this community and getting to the Fort Montgomery Post Office is impossible for them. This is a very grave situation.”
While the seniors are hosting the rally, D’Onofrio, who is president of the club, said all are welcome, “and encouraged” to attend.
Highland Falls’ Bobbie Fallon, who helped organize the rally with other Highlanders members said she believes that a post office in Highland Falls is absolutely necessary for not only seniors, but other community residents.
The mayor said he has reached out to all of the village’s federal elected officials — Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Pat Ryan — to get information about what’s going on with the post office, and if it will reopen.
At Monday evening’s Town Board meeting, Coucilman Joe DeWitt said the closing of the Highland Falls Post Office would be another unwelcome hit to the village’s Main St.
“We’ve had a bad enough year,” he said about the federal-level decision. “Don’t punish us further by closing our post office.”
Reports indicated that the majority of post offices that the USPS is closing will be money-losing post offices, post offices in close proximity to other offices, and branches with only retail operations (window service). The Highland Falls mail carriers are currently working out of the Fort Montgomery Post Office.
Since folks will be gathering that day to attract attention, the mayor said, there may also be signs urging the same federal officials listed above to continue to push for Individual Aid from FEMA for those families here who were significantly affected by the July 9 floods. The event is expected to last about an hour.
