Western New York Congressman Brian Higgins joined local business owners, the association of Town Clerks and non-profit leaders opposed to the U.S. Postal Service's decision to close the Buffalo Mail processing facility on William Street street.
Congressman Higgins appeared at the headquarters of the a local printing and mailing company Thursday.
The U.S. Postal Service announced the closing of more than half the postal facilities in the United States, but Representative Brian Higgins said Buffalo's Mail Processing facility on William Street shouldn't be on the closing list.
"The United States Postal Service last year gave the Buffalo facility its "Gold Standard" for efficiency and effectiveness. The US Postal Service should not be closing the facility, they should be holding it up as a national model based on their own recognition of the work that's done at that great facility," said Higgins.
According to Higgins, 55% of the U.S. population and 62% of the Canadian population are within a 500 mile radius of the Buffalo mail processing facility, which plays an important role for Western New York's printing-and-mail industry, and companies like the Zenger Group on Hertel Avenue which serve businesses in the United States and Canada.
Steve Zenger is President of the company and says shutting down the William Street mail center will have a negative effect on his company, which has 118 employees.
"If you look at the map the postal service shows about their consolidation efforts, their analysis appears to end at the water which would certainly be the logical thing to do, it ends at our borders. However, our service area here in Buffalo does not end at that border at all," said Zenger.
Zenger acknowledges a need for reform, but he has issues with the way the US Postal Service went about consolidating its facilities.
"We recognize the need for reform. We have our concerns about how the analysis was done here, for Buffalo, because my main issue in particular, is with regard with the Canadian business that's done here," said Zenger.
Representative Higgins said he's written a letter to Postmaster General Patrick G. Donahoe, and hopes to meet with him in the next two weeks to make a strong case for keeping the William Street processing facility open.