By Brian Meyer – 10/05/2009
News Staff Reporter
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When an East Side post office failed to open on time this morning, the building’s landlord claimed it was another example of officials trying to close it down by neglect.
The Broadway-Fillmore Branch at 1035 Broadway is on a list of about 400 post offices nationwide that are being reviewed for possible closure.
The Broadway facility’s late opening was an “anomaly” caused by a recent staffing change and miscommunication, a local spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service insisted. The one-person office opened more than an hour late because a manager based in another post office was unaware that an employee had called in sick.
“We regret the inconvenience to customers, and this won’t happen again,” said Victor C. Laudisio, the Buffalo Post Office’s customer relations coordinator.
But Thomas Handley, who owns the building where the Broadway-Fillmore Branch has been operating since 2001, said today’s tardy opening is the latest in a string of problems. The post office closes for lunch each day, he said. The hours have also been changed numerous times, and the branch is currently open only 25 hours a week, Handley complained.
