By:Carrie James
East Meadow gets its own post office, postmaster
It's official. The U.S. Postal Service last week put its stamp of approval on East Meadow's first-ever post office and postmaster.
"I waited a long time for this to happen," said county Legis. Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow), who thanked community organizations such as the East Meadow Civic Association for helping East Meadow to get its own post office. Until now, it had only a branch of the Hempstead Post Office.
"I never thought it would occur as quickly as it has in the last few months. Thanks to Bob Zafonte [president of East Meadow Civic Association] and his committee for their help in getting it done," Gonsalves said. "It is a privilege to see we have our own postmaster now. I wish him the very best, and we wish him many years of success."
On Oct. 25, the U.S. Post Service, Long Island District, held a ceremony to install Charles Knowles, 47, as postmaster and to recognize the East Meadow Post Office as a first-class mail center.
As a first-class office, it will offer better customer service, including bulk mail, said Knowles. Before, bulk-mail customers had to go to Hempstead.
Knowles has been with the U.S. Postal Service for 23 years, starting as a letter carrier in Hicksville. He became a manager in 1985 and served as branch manager in the Hempstead Post Office from 1991 to 2000.
"After working in the Hempstead Post Office for so many years, this is a nice next step," Knowles said. "Right now, I want to get involved in the community and improve services. I want to point out that this is not just me. These are all the first employees of the East Meadow Post Office. They do all the work, and I can't do it with out them."
The postal service chose Knowles out of a long line of candidates. Robert Hernandez, manager of post-office operations for the Long Island District, interviewed the final three.
"After thorough interviews, Charlie turned out to be the best candidate among the three," Hernandez said. "He has a lot of experience with the post office. He came with much more experience in management of facilities. He has excellent communication skills.
"We are very confident in the selection of Charles Knowles as the postmaster of East Meadow," Hernandez said. "He and the post office are not just going to be successful, but also an integral part of the community. This is a great day for East Meadow."
According to Hernandez, turning the East Meadow branch into a full-service site took about a year.
East Meadow has long been a high-volume post office, Hernandez said, but the district felt no need to change its status because its service was good as a branch. It wasn't until community leaders approached Long Island District officials that they decided to review the post office's status.
When East Meadow residents and community leaders approached the district manager about separating East Meadow from the Hempstead Post Office, Hernandez submitted a request to postal headquarters in Washington, D.C. In the request, the district manager gave information about the size of the community, volume the East Meadow Post Office handled, letters from community leaders requesting the change and statistical data.
