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Stop Thief! USPS and the Bronx General Post Office

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For the sake of future generations, please speak up now to save the Bronx General Post Office. The USPS is moving rapidly to dispose of this iconic New Deal era building and to further erase the legacy of Franklin Roosevelt’s progressive political agenda.

The Bronx General Post Office is a jewel among our many beautiful post offices. The lobby is an everyman’s gallery of thirteen oversize murals by Ben Shahn and his wife, Bernarda Bryson Shahn. Inspired by the Walt Whitman poem I Hear America Singing and titled America’s Resources, the murals depict the dignity of those who perform manual labor.  

Credit:Hazelwood, Sances Many post office murals are painted on canvas. The Shahns’ murals are egg tempera on plaster frescos and are considered part of the building. A fear is that if the building is sold, ownership of the murals will pass from public to private ownership. The structure itself gained entry to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The nomination documents state that “the most noteworthy features of the Bronx Post Office are the thirteen interior murals,” but unfortunately the lobby and its artwork were not landmarked.

The New York City Landmark Conservancy is working with the artist’s son, Jonathan Shahn, to urge the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the building’s public interior spaces and the historic murals that adorn them.  You can add your voice by contacting the Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, Robert B. Tierney at rtierney@lpc.nyc.gov Meanwhile the USPS has given preliminary approval to the sale of this building. The only administrative relief remaining is an appeal to the USPS Vice-President for Facilities.  Any one may make a written request for review but the request must be postmarked by Saturday, April 13, 2013.

Please send a letter of any length to this address: USPS Vice President, Facilities 2 Congress Street, Room 8 USPS Facilities Implementation Milford, MA 01757 Letters must be postmarked by Saturday, April 13, 2013

Some photos and more information below the line.


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