What:

Near a buzzing midtown on 8th Avenue, up the iconic New York City steps across from Penn Station, just past Corinthian columns that ornament the façade stretching from 31st to 33rd Street, beneath the etched-in-stone postal credo from Herodotus that reads, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," inside this, the monumental James A. Farley Post Office Building that covers an entire city block and contains Moynihan Station, the United States Postal Service will gather to perform a sacred postal ceremony and celebrate the ascendance of the first Puerto Rican woman to the office of Manhattan postmaster – the executive responsible for mail and package delivery to 8.8 million customers at every residential and business address in “that capital of the world.”

Who:

US Postal Inspection Service Honor Guard
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Performers
Local elected officials and representatives
District Manager & Executive-in-Charge Lorraine Castellano
Manhattan Postmaster Wanda Diaz
(English/Spanish interviews available)

When:

Friday, September 16
Noon to 1:00 p.m.

Where:

James A. Farley Post Office Building
421 8th Ave (across from MSG/Penn Station)
New York, NY 10001

Background:

Wanda Diaz becomes just the 46th American postmaster of New York – a position that dates back to 1659, while the city was under Dutch rule.  

She brings more than 25 years of New York City postal experience to the role, beginning her career as a Letter Carrier in the Bronx in 1996.

Postmaster Diaz will oversee all delivery & retail operations within what is known as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world. She is supported by 4,000 employees who work in 66 offices and 55 retail locations across the borough’s 22.83 square miles.

She will be responsible for maintaining the seven-days-per-week postal deliveries of mail – checks, ballots, and packages – for 8.8 million customers.

Diaz, who’s family came to New York in 1975, is the first Puerto Rican woman to serve as Manhattan postmaster.

The ceremony will commemorate her administration and also celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins September 15 and recognizes the achievements and contributions of Hispanic American champions who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.

In 1775, Ebenezer Hazard began serving as the first American postmaster of New York, under the authority of the Continental Congress. William Bogardus served as New York’s first postmaster, in 1664 under British Rule.

The first record of postmaster in the city dates back 363 years, to an official repository for overseas mail designated for New Amsterdam, a Dutch outpost.

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