Home Delivery For Northwest

There's been much talk of the real estate boom in the Northwest Woods section of East Hampton, but solid proof of it came this week when the East Hampton Post Office announced it was adding 66 streets in Northwest and the northern limits of East Hampton to its home-delivery routes.

Delivery, which is optional, will begin on June 2, said Carol Kroupa, the East Hampton postmaster. Depending on how many people take up the opportunity to have one less chore in their busy days, the change could affect more than 800 residences, Mrs. Kroupa said.

Only houses that have numbers assigned to them by the Town Assessor's office and are located on paved, town-maintained streets are being added to delivery routes. Residents of a dirt road such as Ely Brook to Hand's Creek may not be out of luck, however; they have been invited to submit a request to the Post Office if they would like to place a mailbox at the point where their street meets a paved delivery road.

During her eight years as East Hampton's postmaster, Mrs. Kroupa said, she has seen petitions asking for home delivery from most of the streets on the list.

There were not enough houses on any of them at first to warrant the new route, but now, she said, "it's developed to the point where these people are eligible."

Happy Residents

Eligibility is not established by the local Post Office but by the district office in Hauppauge, Mrs. Kroupa said. That office looks at the amount of development in an area and judges whether it meets the quasi-public business's criteria for home delivery.

Averill Geus of Old Orchard Lane has been petitioning for delivery every since she and her husband, Edwin Geus, moved from East Hampton Village to their present house.

Hearing the news for the first time this week, Mr. Geus said, "We're very happy about it." They will be putting up a mailbox shortly, he said.

Others called this week were equal ly and happily surprised by the news.

"Very pleased," said Stanley Singer of Quarty Court.

"I am thrilled about this," said Veronica Wallace of Powder Hill Lane. "What is it, six or seven miles . . . just to get the junk mail?"

"This is kind of shaking me up," Lawrence Koncelik Sr. of Mile Hill Road said on a more jocular note. "What will happen to my morning routine?"

Mr. Koncelik has lived in Northwest for going on 50 years, and remembers when there was "nothing but trees." Though he said he'd have to check with his wife, Doris, he said he'd probably choose home delivery.

Mrs. Kroupa stressed that one can opt for home delivery and still keep a box in the Post Office.

Having It All

There are "those people [who] won't give up their Post Office boxes," she said. "It's an individual choice."

Part-time residents in particular, said Mrs. Kroupa, may feel more secure having their mail kept at the Post Office. Others, she suggested, may find it convenient to have bills and other business mail go to a Post Office box and personal correspondence to the mailbox at home.

Everyone affected by the change agreed on one thing: It would end the fight for a parking space at the Post Office.

Have You Heard?

Mrs. Kroupa suggested this week that those newly eligible for home delivery keep their post office boxes until the rent runs out, to allow time to notify people of their change of address.

Not all of those postal patrons have been notified of their new options as yet, said Mrs. Kroupa, because not all of them maintain boxes in the East Hampton Post Office. A shortage of boxes, before the expanded Gay Lane building was completed, forced some people to get their mail elsewhere.

Those who are not sure whether they are now eligible have been asked to call the East Hampton Post Office.

Those who are eligible can begin receiving mail at home as soon after June 2 as they put up a box labeled with their house number, which should be at least one inch in height.

"Posts must be neat and of adequate strength and size," states the Post Office.

Growth Business

Though developments, such as Dune Alpin, Georgica Estates, and Hansom Hills, have been added to delivery routes in the past, Mrs. Kroupa said this was the first time in quite a while for a whole geographic area to be included.

"This is probably the largest growth in one time that I've seen," she said.

Speaking of growth, the staff at the East Hampton Post Office has grown by four in the last year.

More part-time summer help will be hired once again this season, Mrs. Kroupa said, to handle the "increase in business, just as any other business experiences."