BY PASHA FARMANARA | The West Village post office scene has been rather chaotic lately. First, the West Village Station Post Office closed after a car crashed into it, and only recently reopened. Now, the Patchin Station Post Office has temporarily closed.
On Mon., Oct. 21. a car stuck the West Village Station, at 527 Hudson St., putting it out of commission until the building was repaired and safe to reoccupy. Despite reports saying the P.O. would be back open for the Christmas rush, it didn’t come back online until Jan. 18.
The Hudson St. branch is fully functional and open for business, but as shown by a crack in the storefront’s window, there are still a few fixes left.
“The dust is still settling,” a clerk there said this week. “There are still things that need to be fixed, but we are making good headway.”
The public enthusiastically greeted the branch’s reopening, as indicated by a sign posted outside its door.
“We’re Open!” the sign reads. Underneath, written in marker, someone added, “We’re glad!”
But the Patchin Station, at 70 W. 10th St., is now shut for building renovations. Despite a sign saying the branch would reopen Feb. 18, this week the doors remained locked.
The branch’s closing has frustrated local residents, a number of whom could be seen Tuesday standing outside the closed P.O. with their packages in hand.
The U.S. Postal Service released a statement on the W. 10th St. branch’s closing, which noted that, “postal officials will stage a mobile unit in front of the Post Office to service the community.”
But Tuesday there was no mobile unit present.
Residents in need of a post office can visit the Hudson St. branch or the Old Chelsea Station, at 217 W. 18th St.
