Brooklyn’s hippest ZIP is getting split.

cbournis — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:33:00 +0000

Williamsburg’s waterfront will be cut out of the fashionably skinny 11211 ZIP code and saddled with the uglier 11249 postal code next month thanks to a booming residential and business population.

Residents learned of the decision on Wednesday, when the Post Office told the 16,046 affected customers that a new postal code would go into effect on July 1.

“Change is not always easy or convenient, but your new ZIP code will provide additional room for growth in the community and effective mail delivery for years to come,” said the unsigned postmaster’s notice.

The new ZIP code will comprise an area bounded by Kent Avenue, Flushing Avenue, N. 14th Street and Bedford Avenue, basically resembling a banana.

In essence, the 11211 ZIP code is following the hipsters, who are migrating to East Williamsburg and south side Williamsburg as housing costs have risen along the waterfront.

It is unclear how many people in the new ZIP zone still rely on old-style mail deliveries. The decline of so-called “snail mail” is, after all, a nationwide trend.

Still, the change was necessary because deliveries throughout the western portion of the neighborhood have risen with the population surge that followed the 2005 rezoning of the former manufacturing area into a high-rise residential neighborhood.

The waterfront population has jumped dramatically in the past 10 years. One census tract near N. Seventh Street rose 123 percent over the decade.

A Postal Service spokeswoman said that Williamsburg’s deliveries have been increasing even though the total amount of mail in Brooklyn has dropped over the past five years.

“New buildings have been going up, more businesses are moving in and there are more family members in same apartment dwelling,” said Post Office spokeswoman Darlene Reid-Demeo.

That said, the change will not result in an additional post office. The main postal station for the current 11211 zone is on S. Fourth Street at Marcy Avenue.

Businesses that rely on the 11211 moniker feel betrayed.

A store manager at Office 11211, the Bedford Avenue mail supplies store that is in the new zone, said the company was contemplating a name change, but had not made a firm decision.

And Ward Dennis, a community board member who runs the Brooklyn 11211 blog, said that maybe it was time to retire his website.

Of course, he was kidding.

“I’ll keep Brooklyn 11211 because it sounds better and looks better than Brooklyn 11249,” he said.

Longtime residents say they have lived with the palindromic 11211 for their entire lives, and it has become a part of the neighborhood’s identity. The last change to occur in the area was when Ridgewood, Queens got a new ZIP code in 1980.

Updated 12:29 pm, June, 3 2011: Includes new information.

USPS to Drop Overnight Guarantee for First-class Mail

cbournis — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:21:21 +0000

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced they are looking to make another cost- savings change in order to further relieve the financially struggling agency.

CNN Money reported the USPS is planning to announce a proposal that will outline a policy that no longer delivers next-day first-class mail. As a part of this proposal, the USPS wants to drop next-day delivery (one to three days) and stretch the timeframe to two to five days delivery. CNN reports Art Sackler, executive director of the National Postal Policy Council, a trade group for large mailers, said, “This isn’t a change we’re happy about,” adding, “But if they don’t cut somewhere and substantially, they’re going to run out of cash next summer. It’s one of the lesser evils.” The USPS says customers, “on average” receive mail the day after it was mailed and, while the postal service says they’ll still aim for next-day delivery, it won’t happen as often if the new proposal takes effect. Currently the USPS has been severely struggling due to a combination of issues including decision-making constraints, having to compete with the Internet and layers of bureaucracy and the mandates that accompany it, such as the $5.5 billion prepayment into its retirement fund. The $5.5 billion dollar payment was postponed, however that payment is now coming due on Dec. 18, and based on the agency’s severe deficit, the money does not seem to be available.

“These changes [elimination of next-day delivery] are being proposed, because they will allow for significant consolidation of the entire postal network in terms of facilities, processing equipment, vehicles and employee workforce,” said U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Sue Brennan.

Currently the USPS has been steadily laying off employees and closing post offices. Additionally the agency is looking to increase the price of postage in early 2012 and the idea of shutting down service on Saturdays has been bounced around for over a year. USPS is also looking to close down several additional mail processing centers, such as the one in Orange County, New York. The USPS plans to announce the new delivery standards in a filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission on Monday. Update Dec. 5: The official press release has been issued and can be found here.The release said the agency is seeking to save $2.1 billion with this proposal and included the following statement,

“The U.S. Postal Service must reduce its operating costs by $20 billion by 2015 in order to return to profitability,” said David Williams, vice president, Network Operations. “The proposed changes to service standards will allow for significant consolidation of the postal network in terms of facilities, processing equipment, vehicles and employee workforce and will generate projected net annual savings of approximately $2.1 billion.”

Office 11211 » Blog

Brooklyn’s hippest ZIP is getting split.

USPS to Drop Overnight Guarantee for First-class Mail