By Caitlin McNamara
And Harold Egeln
Bay Ridge Eagle

After sending a letter to Brooklyn Postmaster Joseph Chiossone three weeks ago about the widespread concern over the possible closure of the 4th Avenue Ovington Station post office, state Senator Marty Golden finally received a response.

However, it far from clarified the issue and might be viewed as a cause for further alarm for the thousands who regularly use the Ovington Station.

Chiossone’s correspondence confirmed that Triboro District postal officials are reviewing operations at several stations and branches in Brooklyn.

The Postmaster wrote, “They [U.S.P.S.] are looking at every possible way to reduce cost, while continuing to meet the needs of our customers. Before the Postal Service makes a decision to close or consolidate a post office, we comply with all the stipulations mandated by federal law.�

This seems to indicate that federal law will be the baseline that guides the decision, as opposed to what might be best for the Bay Ridge neighbors who have relied on the post office branch for three decades.

Helping lead the battle to maintain the much-needed facility, Jim Musumeci, president of the Brooklyn American Postal Works Union, told the Eagle that Ovington Station is one of 18 under consideration for closure just in Brooklyn.

“It’s quite serious,� Musumeci said. “All the retail financial stations in Brooklyn are being reviewed for closing except for the Homecrest and Ryder satellite offices. Our national union president got a letter from the Postal Service on May 15 alerting him that 3,000 such offices across the country are on a list for possible closing.�

Golden issued a statement reiterating his concern: “I would like to emphasize the fact that the post office at Fourth Avenue provides necessary services to the residents of Bay Ridge. If this branch were to close, this would cause considerable hardship for many of my constituents.�

“That is why we must join together as a community in protesting this planned closing, working with the Bay Ridge Community Council, Community Board 10 and our local elected officials, senior centers and all of our civic associations. Bay Ridge cannot be adequately served by one post office, and that message must be heard by officials before this decision is made.�

The Ovington branch is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on the weekends. Senator Marty Golden is supporting a petition collection drive that had been circling the neighborhood against the closing of this branch.

The services of the smaller stations — heavily replied upon by elderly residents and the sizeable local Middle Eastern population, which sends packages overseas — would be forced to integrate into the larger postal branches. The options to absorb Ovington include the Fort Hamilton Post Office on Fifth Avenue and 88th Street or the Bay Ridge Post Office at 5501 Seventh Ave. in Sunset Park. Neither of these is convenient to car-less postal customers.

“There were public hearings on Staten Island and Flushing, and postal officials were hammered with complaints,� Musumeci explained — due to the unpopular proposal to consolidate the Staten Island mail processing station into the Brooklyn processing station.

When the main post office in Brighton Beach, zip code 11235, was proposed for closing, the community revolted, and Musumeci and Congressman Jerrold Nadler led a movement to save it.

Musumeci said closure of the Ovington Station would probably be effected in early fall after the postal service’s fiscal year closes September 30.

The Ovington post office bears the distinction of being named after the Ovington family, whose son, Earle, became the United State’s first official air mail pilot in 1911. The family farmland was incorporated into what was once called Ovington Village. A talented pilot, Earle Ovington came to be known as “Birdman.� What a shame it would be to close a post office with such a namesake!

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