Residents Want Southside Post Office Kept Open

It may not be the largest of area US Postal Service locations, but (18015), it would be a big inconvenience for local residents.

“It would not be good,” said one customer as she left the post office at 131 W. 4th St. after sending a package. She said the alternative would be to go three or four miles out of her way, to the Broad Street location on the other side of the Lehigh River.

In a neighborhood where many, if not most, rely on public transportation to get around, the news of the possible closure of the neighborhood post office was met with universal dismay.

Southside resident Hasmin Santiago said she visits the post office nearly weekly, and if it were to close, it would mean a bus trip across the city to get her business done.

“It would affect us quite a lot,” Santiago said. “This is the only post office on Southside.”

The USPS is conducting a review of 3,653 post offices in 49 states, including the Southside Bethlehem branch. While the number of full-service post offices to be closed and possibly be replaced with “Village Post Offices” or limited-service branches located in retail locations such as pharmacies and grocery stores, has not been finalized, press releases from the USPS indicate they may close as many as two out of three of those reviewed.

Regina Cruz, a 33-year veteran of the postal service, says she is not worried for herself or her co-worker's job if the Southside location closes—they will just be transferred, she said.

But the small third-party-operated Village Post Offices don't offer the full range of postal services an official USPS branch does, she said, between helping the steady stream of customers at the window. Many asked about news of the possible closure.

“I get so sick of hearing it,” she said, adding. “They say January for a decision.”

Despite the constant flow of people, looking for everything from a post office box to bulk mail to money orders to sending multiple packages, Cruz said the day was fairly slow.

“There's times of the month - when checks come out - when it's constant,” she said.

Though there is a mini post office at Lehigh University, few other than those related to the campus use it, and even they visit the southside branch fairly often, she said.

“Most of them come here,” Cruz said. “They can't do the same things we do.”

The post office, which has been at it's current location for about a century, has already downsized once.

Originally built and owned by the USPS, the building is now privately owned and the post office rents only a small fraction of its former space. The rest of the building is occupied by retail and office space.

Despite the pedestrian character of the neighborhood, Cruz says she thinks the post office would be busier if it offered better parking. Two five-minute drop off spaces and two short-term metered spaces are located in front of the entrance on East Fourth Street.

“This is just because our other branches are much busier. We don't have any parking,” Cruz said. “If they'd rent a building with parking...I think some people would rather keep going (when the immediately adjacent parking spots are filled).”

According to an article in the Huffington Post, those that would be directly affected if the southside USPS branch were to close have 60 days to register their comments, and if the office is actually slated for closure, those serviced by the branch may appeal to the Postal Regulatory Commission.