Business, Banking & Real Estate

Boro Bulk Mail May Head To Bklyn

By DOMENICK RAFTER Citing the need to cut costs, the U.S. Postal Service is eyeing moving some of its operations in its main Queens Processing Center into a center in Brooklyn. The Queens center is located in College Point, while the Brooklyn Center is located 12 miles away in East New York, on the border with Queens. The proposed move is part of a nationwide effort to cut costs. USPS said it is losing money because of decreasing volume in what it terms profitable types of mail, such as First-Class letters. In response, the postal service is cutting more than half of their processing centers nationwide, from 487 today to less than 200 by 2013; 252, including the Queens facility, are either eyed for consolidation or have already been approved to be consolidated. The Queens facility, which handles bulk mail, is not a standard mail post office it serves zip codes that begin with 110, 111, 113 and 114, which includes the entire borough of Queens except the Rockaways and a few neighborhoods in Northwestern Nassau County, including Great Neck, Port Washington, Elmont and Franklin Square. The consolidation will mean the loss of 702 jobs but save USPS over $30 million. Some operations in the Brooklyn facility will move to Manhattan. The move would mean there could be a change in local collection box pickup times, but delivery mail times to residences and businesses will not change. The proposed consolidation would support a 2- to 3-day service standard for First-Class Mail items. Commercial mailers who ship to Destination Sectional Center Facilities in the 110, 111, 113 and 114 zip codes should expect changes if the plan goes into place. A spokeswoman for the USPS would not comment on specific changes, but those changes will be outlined in a public meeting on Friday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Bayside High School. Public comment is also encouraged and will be accepted until Dec. 19. Those from the public who wish to submit comments can write them to Manager, Consumer and Industry Contact, Triboro District, 1050 Forbell St., Brooklyn, NY 11256-9621 The plan is tentative and will not face final approval until after the public comment period has ended. Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400 Ext. 125.

Page 18 Tribune Dec. 1-7, 2011 www.queenstribune.com

Carrin, Pinsky Visit Crystal

Crystal Window & Door Systems, the award winning national manufacturer, was recently pleased to host, on two separate dates, visits by Adolfo Carrin, Jr. from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Seth Pinsky of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC). In visiting the notable, vibrant and successful Queens firm, they join a long and growing list of government, business and association officials including Mayor Mike Bloomberg, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and U.S. Secretary of State (former U.S. Sen.) Hillary Clinton who have toured the factory. Carrin, the Administrator of HUD Region II, met with Crystal President Thomas Chen and Executive Vice President Steve Chen. The HUD guests toured the factory to witness the fabrication of Crystal energy efficient aluminum and vinyl windows. As the former Bronx Borough President, Carrin is very familiar with the New York City housing situation. Many Crystal products are used in HUD financed and subsidized residential housing properties throughout the nation, said Steve Chen. This was a great chance for Mr. Carrin to see the how our windows and doors can contribute to the quality and energy efficiency of HUD properties. The following morning, Steve Chen hosted Pinsky, who toured the 200,000square-ft manufacturing facility. Crystal is definitely an EDC success story, said Steve Chen. Ten years ago, EDC initiatives helped us to remain a New York City manufacturer and locate our factory and headquarters building in the College Point Corporate Park, one of the industrial/commercial districts administered by EDC. The Crystal facility is particularly notable since it is the largest window fabrication facility and one of the largest manufacturers of any type in New York City. The factory employs about 300 workers on site, produces over a half-million window units annually and spans the length of an entire city block. Crystal Window & Door Systems is also notable as an immigrant and minority manor business success story. Thomas Chen founded the company in 1990 after immigrating to New York City from his native Taiwan a few years earlier.

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