10048 (ZIP code)

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US Post Office--Church Street Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
90 Church Street Station Post Office building
90 Church Street Station Post Office building
Location: New York, New York
Coordinates: 40°42′44.95″N 74°0′40.44″W / 40.7124861, -74.0112333Coordinates: 40°42′44.95″N 74°0′40.44″W / 40.7124861, -74.0112333
Built/Founded: 1934
Architect: Cross & Cross; Pennington,Lewis & Mills
Architectural style(s): Classical Revival, Art Deco
Added to NRHP: May 11, 1989
NRHP Reference#: 88002359 [1]
MPS: US Post Offices in New York State, 1858-1943, TR
Governing body: United States Postal Service

10048 is the zip code assigned to the former World Trade Center in New York City. Years after the September 11, 2001 attacks, some mail continues to be sent to 10048 by senders who have not updated their mailing lists. The zip code is being kept active by the United States Postal Service (USPS) and is likely to be assigned to the Freedom Tower and other buildings planned for the World Trade Center site.[2]

Contents

[edit] Mail delivery

Before the September 11, 2001 attacks, there were eight letter carriers assigned to the buildings to deliver mail to the buildings' tenants.[3] All of the Postal Service employees survived the attacks.[4] In the months following the September 11, 2001 attacks, over 80,000 pieces of mail continued to arrive each day addressed to the World Trade Center, including some items loosely addressed such as to "The Search Dogs" or "The Rescuers".[5] As of 2003, 3,600 items of mail per day were still being sent to 10048.[2] These items were processed at the James A. Farley General Post Office, the main facility for New York City, located across from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan.[6] Mail there was either held while awaiting to be picked up by messengers on behalf of companies, forward to the companies, returned to sender, or destroyed.[7] The United States Postal Service provided free mail forwarding service for three years, rather than the usual one-year period.[7] By the end of 2006, the number of items sent to 10048 had decreased to 300 items daily.[7] The mail is mainly coming from businesses and organizations that have not updated their bulk mailing lists.[8]

[edit] 90 Church Street

The 90 Church Street Station Post Office building is located adjacent to the World Trade Center site and the PATH station. The building was built in 1935 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.[9] It suffered moderate damage from the September 11, 2001 attacks, including damage to its facade, broken windows, and major water damage. It was also extensively contaminated with asbestos, lead dust, fungi, fiberglass dust, mercury, and bacteria.[9] There was no major structural damage.[10] During recovery efforts at Ground Zero, the United States Postal Service worked to return individual pieces of mail found by rescue workers to the addressees.[11]

In August 2004, the Church Street Station Post Office reopened, and mail is once again being processed there.[8] Church Street Station also serves the 10007 zip code, covering portions of Battery Park City, TriBeCa, and the area surrounding New York City Hall. Like the James Farley Post Office, the Church Street Station Post Office is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition to housing the Postal Service, the 90 Church Street building contains offices of the New York State Public Service Commission, New York State Health Department, and New York City Housing Authority.[9]

[edit] Commemoration

The 10048 zip code was used again after the September 11, 2001 attacks for a pictorial cancellation commemorating the anniversary of the attacks.[12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2006-03-15).
  2. ^ a b Haberman, Clyde. "Twilight Zone For ZIP Code At Ground Zero", The New York Times, November 14, 2003. 
  3. ^ Olshan, Jeremy. "'Not Deliverable';Mail still says 'One World Trade Center'", Newsday (New York), February 4, 2003. 
  4. ^ "Post Office Holding Mail For World Trade Center", CNN, October 2, 2001. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.  Note: transcript says "seven letter carriers".
  5. ^ Pope, Nancy A.. Reestablishing Neighborhood Service. National Postal Museum.
  6. ^ Lagnado, Lucette. "WTC mail still goes through: The towers are gone, but the U.S. Postal Service has not abandoned its clients. Or the mail carriers who once served them.", The Ottawa Citizen, October 18, 2001. 
  7. ^ a b c Odell, Patricia. "...And the Mail Just Keeps Coming", Direct, January 1, 2007. 
  8. ^ a b Barr, Meghan. "Mail Still Being Sent to Trade Center", Associated Press, December 4, 2006. 
  9. ^ a b c Dunlap, David W.. "Post Office, Polluted on Sept. 11, Is Back in Business", The New York Times, August 19, 2004. 
  10. ^ FEMA (May 2002). "Chapter 7, Peripheral Buildings", World Trade Center Building Performance Study. 
  11. ^ Letter to customers explaining recovered 9/11 mail. National Postal Museum.
  12. ^ "We will never forget": Special cancellation commemorates Sept. 11. United States Postal Service.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links