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Read the press release here.

Peck Slip Post Office Sells its Last Stamps Before Move

A line of customers at the Peck Slip Post Office the day before it closed.
A line of customers at the Peck Slip Post Office the day before it closed.
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DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

LOWER MANHATTAN — The Peck Slip Post Office will sell its last stamps on Friday before moving to a smaller space three blocks south on John Street.

The longstanding post office at Peck Slip between Pearl and Front streets is being relocated to 116 John St., the site of the former Andrews Coffee Shop, a United States Postal Service spokeswoman said.

The former post office site will be converted to a new elementary school for Lower Manhattan slated to open in 2015, the DOE said.

The new 3,000-square-foot John Street post office — which is dubbed the Peck Slip Retail Unit — opens for business on June 4, and will have the same hours — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday — as the Peck Slip Station, said Connie Chirichello, a USPS spokeswoman.

A new post office is opening June 4, 2012 in the base of 116 John St.
A new post office is opening June 4, 2012 in the base of 116 John St.
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DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

Customers can keep using the same return address as they do now, Chirichello said.

Post office boxes will automatically transfer to John Street, and customers will be able to continue mailing packages and buying stamps at the new location, Chirichello said.

The counter will have one less service window, three rather than the four that are usually open at Peck Slip. A new business center in the lobby on John Street will offer free expedited shipping boxes and envelopes, along with packing supplies for purchase.

The new post office will also have some familiar faces — all the Peck Slip counter staff is moving to the new location, Chirichello said.

"Customers can expect the same great service they received at the old location…from the same friendly staff," Chirichello said.

The USPS move is intended to save the agency money, a spokeswoman said.

Some customers said Thursday that they were sad to see the Peck Slip Post Office close after more than six decades in the brick building at 1 Peck Slip.

"I don't like it," said Josie Hernandez, 54, who has lived a few blocks from the post office all her life. "It was always open … I guess I'm going to have to deal with it."

The post office's move to John Street takes it farther from neighboring co-op complex Southbridge Towers and parts of the South Street Seaport, but brings it closer to the many office buildings in the Financial District.

"It's convenient for me," said Rachel Muller, who works in insurance and said the new post office will be closer to her job.

Patrick Charles, 52, who works on Water Street, called the new location "much better" — especially if it has improved air conditioning.

"In the summer, this place gets hot," he said, leaving the Peck Slip Post Office Thursday afternoon.

The USPS began looking to sell its 70,800-square-foot Peck Slip building several years ago, as a way of saving money and consolidating its Manhattan operations.

The Peck Slip Post Office is moving from 1 Peck Slip, shown here, to the base of 116 John St.
The Peck Slip Post Office is moving from 1 Peck Slip, shown here, to the base of 116 John St.
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DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

The city stepped in as a buyer and plans to open a new 712-seat school the former post office in the fall of 2015. The Peck Slip School will launch with kindergarten classes in temporary space in Tweed Courthouse this fall.

"This all worked out in the community's favor," said Paul Hovitz, a Community Board 1 member who first raised the idea of converting the Peck Slip Post Office to a school more than two years ago. "We're getting a school and we're maintaining the post office."

The Peck Slip Post Office will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 1, its last day. Starting June 4, the new post office in the base of 116 John St. will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.