Welcome2TheBronx first broke the exclusive story, back on January 2013, that the landmark Bronx General Post Office was for sale. Subsequently the story was immediately picked up by the New York Times in an article by Donald Dunlap. Now after almost 2 years speculation of what the fate of the beloved Post Office would be, Welcome2TheBronx has learned via Denis Slattery of the Daily News that the General Post Office has been sold to developer Young Woo & Associates.
In that original article we said:
“Community activists and residents alike, along with politicians, were (and still remain) upset at the sale of a landmarked building which is a heart and pride of the South Bronx and the borough overall.
We were all worried about the interior lobby of the 79 year old post office which is, “lined with 13 museum-worthy murals by artists Ben Shan and Bernarda Bryson Shan” which wasn’t landmarked.
One of the 13 Ben Shan and Bernarda Bryson Shan murals. ©Welcome2TheBronx.com
Luckily back in December, Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to grant landmark status to the Bronx General Post Office’s lobby in its entirety thus protecting the culturally, architecturally, and historically significant interior.”
Young Woo & Associates was one of the bidding firms for the Kingsbridge armory who lost out to the ice-skating rink proposal and who had an idea to turn the Bronx General Post office into a market just like their original idea for the armory. Welcome2TheBronx proposed that the market could be a Chelsea Market / Eataly style market with a Bronx twist that would celebrate the many ethnic groups which call the Bronx home making us the most diverse borough in New York City (read all about what a Bronx Chelsea Market/Eataly Hybrid would be like).
According to the Daily News the post office will remain operating in the building:
“The Postal Service will maintain a retail presence at the site along with responsibility for the murals’ preservation regardless of what Youngwoo & Associates plans for the site, the spokeswoman said.
The actual sales price of the post office has yet to be confirmed and we now await from official word from Young Woo & Associates as to what will be developed at the building.
Meanwhile, check out a segment on BronxTalk with host Gary Axelbank where Young Woo & Associates discussed their original market concept for the Kingsbridge Armory (which aired in August 2012) and may very well end up being their plan for the post office:
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