Nadler, Schumer, Gillibrand Call on USPS to Immediately Cancel Planned Closure of the Bryant Park Post Office, One of Midtown Manhattan's Busiest Retail Postal Facilities

New York, N.Y. – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today sent a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner calling for the immediate cancellation of the planned closure of the Bryant Park Post Office, located at 23 West 43rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, and demanded a full accounting of how and when the U.S. Postal Service made that decision. The Postal Service is planning to close the facility on August 8th. Nadler, Schumer, and Gillibrand wrote that the Postal Service has not made a serious effort to properly inform and engage the public with full transparency or to adequately solicit public input. “USPS’s unilateral decision to shutter the Bryant Park USPS Station will hurt thousands of New Yorkers, workers, visitors, and small businesses. Every day, the Bryant Park station provides necessary postal services in one of the most prominent economic, cultural, and financial hubs in America, and ripping these services away without any participation from the Bryant Park community is a clear violation of federal regulations,” said Congressman Nadler . “I am glad to be working with Leader Schumer and Senator Gillibrand to hold USPS accountable and protect NY-12’s access to public services.” "The Bryant Park Post Office is staffed by dedicated postal workers and is a lifeline for Midtown businesses, non-profits and residents, and the Postal Service wants to slam the doors shut without regard for how the closure will impact New Yorkers and without having made a serious attempt to inform and engage the community," said Senator Schumer. "Federal rules require the Postal Service to fully satisfy a public review process, which I don’t feel they executed adequately. I am telling Postmaster General Steiner to cancel this closure now, come clean about how this decision was made, and let New Yorkers be heard." “USPS must immediately reverse its decision to close the Bryant Park Post Office, which will harm the families, workers, and small businesses who rely on the branch’s critical services every day,” said Senator Gillibrand. “By failing to provide the Bryant Park community with public notice or adequate opportunity to give feedback on the closure, the Postal Service violated federal standards and stifled the voices of New Yorkers who deserve a say in their community. I will work with my colleagues to cancel this closure and restore New Yorkers’ access to the public services they need to thrive.” The representatives said : “The Bryant Park Post Office is a pillar of USPS's postal services in Midtown Manhattan and beyond, and is one of Midtown Manhattan's busiest retail post offices, serving millions of New Yorkers, workers, visitors, and small businesses every day.” Nadler, Schumer, and Gillibrand wrote that closing the facility would mean millions of New Yorkers and visitors see reduced access to retail postal services and increased wait times at nearby post offices, and that small businesses that rely on daily postal services will see services disrupted, leaving lasting harm to the community and the local economy. Under federal regulations, the Postal Service is required to provide public notice, solicit community input, evaluate local impacts, and consider alternatives before permanently discontinuing a retail facility. Schumer, Gillibrand and Nadler raised concerns that their constituents were not properly informed by the Postal Service of the planned closure and the opportunity for public comment, and that the Postal Service cannot proceed until the mandatory public review process has been fully satisfied and has seriously engaged the community on its plans. Nadler, Schumer, and Gillibrand demanded answers to a series of questions, including the Postal Service's full justification for the closure, for how long has USPS known about the potential expiration of the current lease, whether an extension or renewal of the current lease was pursued, what alternatives to closing the Bryant Park Post Office were considered, when the decision was made, when the public was notified and whether the opportunity for public comment was provided, what analysis USPS has conducted regarding impacts the closure may have on the community and employees at the facility, what plans are in place to ensure that the quality and availability of postal services will not be impacted should the closure proceed, and whether and when the Bryant Park Post Office will be relocated. The letter to Postmaster General Steiner can be found below: We write with serious concern regarding the planned closure of the Bryant Park Post Office, located at 23 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. It has come to our attention that the Postal Service is planning to close the Bryant Park Post Office on August 8 th and that in making this determination, the Postal Service has not made a serious effort to properly inform and engage the public with full transparency or to adequately solicit public input. Therefore, we urge you to immediately cancel the planned closure of the Bryant Park Post Office. The Bryant Park Post Office is a pillar of USPS’s postal services in Midtown Manhattan and beyond. As one of Midtown Manhattan’s busiest retail post offices, the Bryant Park Post Office serves many thousands of New Yorkers, workers, visitors, and small businesses every day. Located in the center of the world’s greatest business, cultural, and financial hub, the Bryant Park Post Office serves to keep the essential public infrastructure of postal services running for Midtown Manhattan. Closing this postal facility would mean that the millions of New Yorkers and visitors will see reduced access to retail postal services and see increased wait times at nearby post offices. Small businesses which rely on daily postal services will see their services disrupted and without reliable postal access. The harm to the community and local economy is clear and negative. Under federal regulations, the Postal Service is required to provide public notice, solicit community input, evaluate local impacts, and consider alternatives before permanently discontinuing a retail facility. Specifically, pursuant to 39 C.F.R. § 241.3, the public must be given a 60 days’ notice of a proposed closure of a postal facility and be provided an opportunity for public comments. [1] Regrettably, we are hearing from our constituents that the Postal Service did not properly inform the residents of its plans to close the Bryant Park Post Office and furthermore, failed to seriously engage the community regarding its decision to close this postal facility. This is unacceptable. The Postal Service cannot proceed with its plans to close the Bryant Park Post Office until the public review process under 39 C.F.R. § 241.3 has been fully satisfied. We request that you provide written responses to the following questions no later than July 31, 2026: Please provide, in detail, justification for the Postal Service’s decision to close the Bryant Park Post Office. When does the current lease of the Bryant Park Post Office expire? For how long (in months, years) has the Postal Service known about the expiration date of the current lease? For what reason will the current lease of the Bryant Park Post Office expire? i.     Is it due to the landlord’s decision to not provide an option to the Postal Service with a lease renewal, or is the Postal Service choosing not to renew the existing lease? ii.     Was an extension of the current lease pursued by the Postal Service? If the Postal Service is choosing not to renew the current lease despite the landlord providing an option for a lease renewal, what are the Postal Service’s justifications for doing so? In deciding to close the Bryant Park Post Office, did the Postal Service consider any other alternatives? If so, please list each consideration in detail and the reasons for not pursuing such alternatives. When did the Postal Service make the decision to close the Bryant Park Post Office? Please provide a specific date. When was the public notified of the Postal Service’s decision to close the Bryant Park Post Office? Please provide a specific date. Did the Postal Service provide an opportunity for public comment? i.     If yes, please provide a specific date of this notice to the public and include documentation of this invitation for public comment. ii.     If yes, did the Postal Service provide clear, transparent instructions to the public on how the public can submit input on the proposed closure? iii.     If yes, was this notice to the public list a clear deadline for the public to submit input? Has the Postal Service made any other effort to engage the public and solicit public input? Has the Postal Service conducted an analysis of the expected impacts on the community, employees, and quality of mail delivery services as a result of the proposed closure of the Bryant Park Post Office? If yes, what will be the impact on the community served? Please provide a detailed description. If yes, what will be the impact on the employees at the Bryant Park Post Office? Please provide a detailed description. Should the Postal Service proceed with closing the Bryant Park Post Office on August 8, 2026, what are the plans in place to ensure that the postal services are not impacted by the closure of the Bryant Park Post Office? How will the Postal Service ensure that residents, workers, businesses, and visitors will continue to have the same quality and availability of postal services? Should the Postal Service proceed with closing the Bryant Park Post Office, will the Bryant Park Post Office be relocated to another building? If so, what will be the exact timeline? Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to hearing your response. Sincerely, ###