by Linda Przygodski
NEW YORK – Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney assured the sparse crowd gathered at the New York Blood Center to discuss the impending zip code change that the switch would not see the Upper East Side lose its ‘cache’.
“I think that soon 10065 and 10075 will have the same cache as 10021,” said Maloney. “People will soon find out what a wonderful neighborhood we live in regardless of the zip code.”
For some, however, the charm of the 10021 zip code was not the crux of the issue.
Business owners who deal with International clients are quite miffed that they will have to individually notify clients to the mail change and stated that it was “an impossible process”. International mail does not operate on the same database and does not automatically update.
The process is far easier for clients who have mainly domestic mail. All major mailers, which include banks, credit card companies, magazines, Social Security, Consolidated Edison, cable and satellite companies, all home and cell phone providers and all local, state and federal Government agencies, will automatically switch to the new zip codes on July 1, 2007. That leaves people with just the task of notifying their friends and family.
Even if they are late in notifying people, Ronald Hart, The United States Postal Service’s Manager of the Lenox Hill Post Office assured people not to panic, “Nothing is going to change. The same people that handled your mail before will still be the same people that handle your mail…everything will get to you; you will still get your mail. Everything that comes into processing now will get to you. It will just get to you a little quicker if you use the new zip code.”
The new zip codes go into effect on July 1st of this year. Pete Fontana, USPS Manager of Customer Service urged customers to cut down on confusion by not using the new zip codes until June 30th of this year. Fontana also tried to quell angry crowd members by explaining the USPS’s reasons.
“Because of the growth of the neighborhood and the high rise apartment buildings that have moved into the area we simply ran out of four digit sort codes for 10021. It is similar to what happened to the post office when they ran out of phone numbers for the 212 area code.
“The new zip codes will speed up delivery of the mail. You will get it sooner from point A to point B.” The borders of the new zip code are as follows:
The Lenox Hill Post Office on East 70th Street will still be the main post office for all three zip codes. The Cherokee Station Post Office Annex on York Avenue between 78th and 79th Street will fall into the 10075 zip code but continue to function as a retail annex to the main postal facility.
Post Office officials and Congresswoman Maloney assured residents that they will work tirelessly so that this transition happens smoothly in the most seamless way possible.