Jenna Ashkenazie
The Midwood post office located at 1228 Coney Island Avenue, off of Avenue J, has stood at the same location since the 1940s. The U.S. Postal Service’s lease expires in June and plans are underway to relocate the post office to a new location, which is yet to be determined. The building was purchased in 2022 by the adjacent Yeshiva of Flatbush Houllou Elementary School, which plans to expand its campus. The Yeshivah of Flatbush has not been forthcoming about its plan for the post office branch.
More Questions Than Answers
According to employees at the post office, they were not given any information about the move. “Not even the managers know,” said an employee who did not wish to be identified. The employee stated that they will not be getting any information until a new location is found and decided upon. After reaching out to the Yeshivah of Flatbush Houllou Elementary School’s marketing department, similar non-information was given. A source at the school said, “There is no information I can share at this time as we are still in the planning stages.”
According to city records, construction on the building was supposed to begin in the summer of 2022 with construction to continue over the summers of each of the following two to three years. Had this happened according to the predicted schedule, construction for the new addition to the school should be almost done by now. It seems, however, that construction will not begin until the post office is able to find a new location.
Senator Simcha Felder’s Position
Senator Simcha Felder has been very vocal about his disapproval for the post office move. He said, “I cannot blame the post office for moving. They don’t own the building. I don’t know what transpired. I can’t blame Yeshivah of Flatbush. It’s a free market. If they didn’t buy it, someone else would have.”
However, Felder does believe that “there are a lot of elderly people who are struggling. I don’t believe a sincere effort was made to find a closer space. I don’t know the facts – it might have been too expensive [to rent a place closer to the original space]. The 11230 post office is [allegedly] moving to another zip code. It doesn’t make sense.” He is referring to the fact that the post office is allegedly looking into acquiring the available space on the corner of Kings Highway and Coney Island, which was until very recently a Walgreens.
“The location is bizarre. There is a post office about nine blocks away from where the [alleged] 11230 post office will be,” Feder said. He noted that the other option that is being considered is to move the post office to a location on McDonald Avenue, which is just as bad as moving it to Kings Highway. Many elderly people in the area rely on having a post office within walking distance. So, this could be a big issue for those with limited mobility.
Senator Felder stated, “Anyone who uses this post office will have to go quite a distance. It isn’t fair. People are being hammered by government policies already. Not everybody drives.” Although he understands that places available on the market right now are quite expensive, and it might not be feasible for the post office to acquire them, Feder claims, “They [the post office] are giving excuses. There are a lot of spaces available on Coney Island [closer to the post office’s current location]. At the very least, they should make a commitment to have a postal truck so the community doesn’t have to suffer. I’m not happy with that but it would show a sign of goodwill.”
Make Your Voice Heard
Senator Felder urges everyone who would be affected by this move to contact Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. “This is a federal issue. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke has been responsive in the past. People should reach out to her. We need a federal representative to make this a do-or-die issue. We need them to make a full stop.”
Concerned citizens can contact Congressman Yvette Clark’s Brooklyn office at 718-287-1142 or via email. Emails can be sent via Clark’s website at Clarke.house.gov.
To complain to the U.S. Postal Service directly there is only one avenue – to write to USPS Attn: Brooklyn Midwood Station Office Relocation – POB 27497, Greensboro, NC 27498-1103.
With no official announcement from either Yeshivah of Flatbush Houllou Elementary school or the post office regarding updates, Midwood residents are left in the dark as to what might happen when the post office officially closes and construction at the Yeshiva of Flatbush begins.