This letter is to inform you that, beginning Monday, July 17, we will be temporarily closing the Strathmore Post Office at 190 Northern Boulevard for approximately two weeks. During this time period we will be converting this post office from a retail window service operation to a 24-hour self-service Automated Post Center (APC).

What is an APC? An Automated Postal Center provides quick, easy and convenient access for postal customers, as ATMs have provided for banking customers. These self-service kiosks offer the majority of products and services available in our post office lobbies. The APCs help speed service and expand access for customers well beyond the traditional 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. APCs do this by eliminating the need to conduct many face-to-face postal transactions.

What can APCs do? As an ATM is virtually a stand-alone bank, an APC is virtually a stand-alone Post Office. APCs can do 80 percent of the types of transactions normally handled at the retail window. APCs dispense dollar bill-sized sheets of 18 self-adhesive First-Class Mail stamps. Using debit and credit cards, APCs enable customers to weigh and mail letters and parcels. They also dispense postage strips in any amount for mailing Express Mail, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail and Parcel Post items. Adjacent to APCs will be a mail chute or collection box for depositing these items. APCs also provide extensive mailing information along with ZIP Code look up.

When we re-open the Strathmore location in mid-July, our APC will be available to serve you 24-hours a day, seven days a week. For the first several months, we will have a Customer Service Advisor available during business hours to assist you in learning how to use the APC. Soon you'll realize how quick, easy and convenient it is to use. An important reminder, APCs take no cash, only debit and credit cards.

Full window service will be provided by our professional staff at two other Manhasset Post Offices less than two miles away. These locations are where you should go for more complex postal transactions such as international packages, CODs, Registered Mail service, money orders and US passports:

Manhasset Main Post Office, located at 28 Maple Place

Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Plandome Post Office (located in the Plandome, LIRR Station)

Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

(closed 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.)

We look forward, as always, to serving our customers more efficiently and conveniently. If you have any questions, please contact me at 627-0536.

Robert A. Trombley

Postmaster