One of Setauket's two U.S. Post Office locations is on the list of 3,700 post offices slated for possible closure, according to a U.S. Postal Service announcement on Tuesday.
It is unclear exactly which location – the one at 101 Main Street next to Frank Melville Memorial Park, or the one on Route 25A near Ridgeway Ave. – is being examined by the U.S. Postal Service. A USPS spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and Mike Robinson, postmaster of the Route 25A office, said he had no comment.
According to a postal service statement, over 35 percent of the agency's revenue now comes from the internet and other "expanded access locations" such as grocery stores, retail chains, and self-service kiosks. The U.S. Postal Service will be conducting studies of 3,700 post offices around the nation to determine which ones could be closed.
"Our customer’s habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business," Patrick Donahoe, postmaster general for the U.S. Postal Service, said in the statement.
On Tuesday afternoon, customers were few and far between at the post office on Main Street, which was built in 1941 and underwent renovations several years ago. But the people who did stop by hoped it wouldn't close, saying it was a friendlier and less busy post office than the one on Route 25A.
"It's a post office that I have used for over 30 years," said Albert Haim, a Setauket resident for 45 years. "It's a local institution, friendly and small. I would hope they don't close it."
Elsewhere on Long Island, post offices in Bay Shore and Uniondale are also slated for review.
