POST OFFICE TO REMAIN OPEN

LEASE EXTENDED FOR COLUMBUS CIRCLE BRANCH, OFFICIALS REPORT

By Charlotte Eichna

Columbus Circle will have a post office for at least another year, according to Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s office.

The branch, at 27 W. 60th St., was weeks away from shutting down because the United States Postal Service was unable to negotiate new terms for the 10-year lease, which expired on April 30. The landlord was reportedly asking for more than twice the current rent of about $400,000 month. Terms of the new lease were not available and a spokesperson for the Post Office did not immediately return a call for comment.

“This is great news for the West Side,” Nadler said. “I’m very pleased that the Columbus Circle Post Office was able to successfully renegotiate its lease. This means that neighborhood residents won’t have to travel far afield to do their basic postal errands.”

The area served by the Columbus Circle Post Office encompasses a number of large residential buildings–including the still-growing Riverside South complex–universities, cultural institutions and small businesses. The 500 post office boxes currently housed there would have had to be relocated to the Ansonia branch, on Columbus Avenue and West 68th Street.

News of the imminent closure came as a surprise when it was first revealed March 31, just one month before the end of the lease. Since then, local elected officials and Community Board 7 representatives have been working to negotiate a new lease, or find new space for the branch. Officials met with Post Office personnel as recently as April 15 to discuss the situation.

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