Public meeting set with U.S. Postal Service officals

The public is invited to a meeting with United States Postal Service officials to be held on Shelter Island Wednesday, March 20, at 6 p.m. at a venue to be announced shortly.

The meeting was organized by Oliver Longwell, an aide to Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton). Mr. Longwell or another of Mr. Bishop’s aides will be on hand along with Councilman Peter Reich.

The meeting aims to address concerns some Islanders have about not receiving both packages and first-class mail, seemingly because of confusion over ZIP codes here.

Some USPS maps show two separate ZIP codes — 11964 in the Center and 11965 in the Heights — while other maps show no ZIP codes on Shelter Island.

Added to the problems is a number of company websites that refuse to send merchandise to post office boxes or simply fail to recognize the Island ZIP codes, insisting people really live in Southampton, East Hampton or Sag Harbor.

The long-festering issue has resulted not only in some merchandise not reaching customers, but also mail from Social Security, Medicare, the Internal Revenue Service, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and insurance companies being returned to senders.

The March 20 public meeting is an attempt to identify various problems and come up with solutions.

Prior to the meeting, Mr. Bishop is asking residents to email him with their concerns and, if they have ideas, their solutions.

The email address is [email protected].