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Politics & Government

Queens Pols Go Postal

Borough political leaders host rally outside of USPS facility in College Point on the verge of closure.

It's not easy getting politicians from across the aisles to agree on anything.

But it would seem that the United States Postal Service's plan to close its College Point mail processing facility in Queens has done just that.

Borough leaders from both political parties representing nearly every district in Queens rallied outside the USPS's mail processing facility in College Point on Friday and called for the post office to consider alternative cost saving measures.

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"I think we all can agree in these tough economic times finding ways to make government operate more efficiently is a good thing. But closing its facility here in College Point is a terrible idea," said state Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, D-Bayside.

Still, the postal service claims it must consolidate its vast network of mail distribution centers around the United States to adjust for an estimated 50 percent drop in demand for its overnight mail delivery service since 2001.

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Although, many of the people who attended Friday's rally called into question this particular statistic.

"FedEx, UPS and their overnight delivery services are going through the roof, so for the USPS management team to suggest there's no demand for overnight delivery is ridiculous," said Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone.

Even so, the post office estimates it will save nearly $32 million per year by closing its College Point processing center.

However, the shuttering of this Queens processing center is also expected to cost Queens more than 1,000 jobs, which is drawing harsh criticism from Queens's political leadership.

"The simple fact is we need more jobs in Queens, not less. We need to find other alternatives that would not be catastrophic for Queens," said state Sen. Toby Stavisky, D-Whitestone.

With a great deal of uncertainty still surrounding the fate of USPS's processing facility in College Point, Stavisky encouraged everyone to get involved.

"I currently have a petition up online at my website calling for the post office to save the College Point processing center," she said.

Those interested in viewing Stavisky's petition can find it here.

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