Tag Archives: USPS

Roundup: Post Office Thefts, Hamlet Meeting, Arts News …

Posted on March 21, 2025 | 9 comments

For the past couple of years, Westport has suffered thefts from private mailboxes. Checks are stolen, altered and cashed.

Amazingly, thieves also hit the big blue drop box outside Westport’s main post office in Playhouse Square.

Last Friday night — in a stupendously surprising and brazen move — the mail drop inside the post office was victimized. (The outside box was too).

Bad guys apparently “fish” for mail through the small slot. The staff is gone at night, but the front part of the building is open.

Westport’s postal clerks (who are perhaps the friendliest and most helpful in the entire US Postal Service) advise handing mail — particularly checks — directly to them.

Even the mail slot on the left is no longer safe (after hours).

================================================

The Planning & Zoning Commission meets next Thursday (March 27, 6 p.m., Zoom).

They’ll continue to discuss a request for special permit/coastal site plan approval for The Hamlet at Saugatuck: the mix of hotel, residential and non-residential uses in the area bordered by Riverside Avenue, Railroad Place, Franklin Street and Charles Street.


Part of the Hamlet at Saugatuck plan: a market, adjacent to Luciano Park, where boats are now stored in a private parking lot.

==================================================

For nearly 50 years, Neighborhood Studios has helped underserved children and those with special needs throughout Fairfield County.

Programs include an art institute for children ages 4-12; a dance academy for those as young as 3; theater for 6-12-year-olds; a Saturday studio; a music school, and a conservatory for teenagers serious about the visual arts, media, music, theater and dance. It’s hands-on, dynamic, fun. Neighborhood Studios offers hope, and changes lives.

Program graduates have gone on to attend colleges like Yale, the University of Connecticut, Howard University, Art Institute, Parsons School of Design, the New School, and Berklee College of Music. Some have become music or art teachers — and Broadway performers.

(That’s an added bonus. The goal of Neighborhood Studios is not to produce lifelong artists. It’s to use the arts to help each child achieve his or her potential — and, hopefully, nurture a lifelong love of the arts.)

It’s a small operation, with a big mission. And some of Neighborhood Studios’ driving forces are Westporters. Board members include Rita Appel, Bob Jacobs and Laurie Gross.

Laurie and Jeff Gross, their son Zack and his wife Sheera, Jim and Lizzie Wolf, Tauck and Brigade Capital Management are sponsors of a very cool “Dueling Pianos” fundraiser.

The April 24 event (7 p.m., Park City Music Hall, Black Rock) includes (or course) music — with a twist. Attendees can request favorite songs, then sing and dance along. There’s plenty of food and drinks, too. Click here for tickets, and more information.

=================================================

Speaking of the arts: Cabaret Olé — the fundraiser for the Staples High School Orphenians and VOCES8 Foundation that includes entertainment, Spanish tapas, a raffle and a silent auction — just got even better.

A VIP Flash Sale ticket — now just $170 — includes special seating, and a meet-and-greet (with photos) with “Wicked” star Mary Kate Morrissey, “Wicked” music director Dan Micciche, and more.

The raffle includes up to 10 nights at the Pineapple Beach Club in Antigua, theater tickets, restaurant gift cards and more. The silent auction features over 80 experiences and items. Bidding begins at noon on March 30; click here.

Cabaret Olé is March 30 (6 p.m., Christ & Holy Trinity Church). Preferred tickets are $150; general admission is $125. Click here for tickets, and more information.

==================================================

Speaking (still) of entertanment: VersoFest has added another big name to next month’s music-and-more Westport Library event: 3-time Grammy Award-winning hip hop artist and co-founder of The Roots, Black Thought.

A conversation with “one of the best lyricists in hip hop history” and community leader June Archer is set for April 5 (4 p.m.; free).

Copies of Black Thought’s memoir, “The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are,” will be for sale, with the author signing copies after the talk.

Black Thought and Questlove founded The Roots in 1987. From humble beginnings performing on Philadelphia street corners to commercial success, they expanded their reach as the house band for Jimmy Fallon, on “Late Night” and “The Tonight Show.”

Click here for more information on Black Thought. Click here for full details on VersoFest ’25.

Black Thought

================================================

And more about music: Voices Café often attracts interesting artists, from up and down the East Coast.

On April 5, one of them is a homegrown talent.

In fact, very talented.

Dustin Lowman — a 2011 Staples High School graduate, now making his name as a New York-based singer/songwriter — opens for Lucy Kaplansky.

Dustin says: “In the years since leaving Westport, I’ve forged an unconventional path, using the tools that growing up there afforded me.

Livingston Taylor says,“Dustin is on the path of a terrific musical career. His musical voice is waiting to be heard by those hungry for the next real thing.”

Kaplansky has gained a fervid following over 3 decades for her folk-inflected singing and songwriting.

Click here for tickets about the show at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport, and more information.

==================================================

Hey, Staples High School Class of 1985: Your 40th (!) reunion is coming!

Organizers have planned a welcome gathering on July 18 at the Black Duck, followed by a July 19 dinner at Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club, and brunch at Compo the next morning.

Email stapleshs1985@gmail.com for more information, or click here to sign up.

==================================================

Female high school seniors who plan to continue their education at a college or vocational school can apply for a $3,000 Philanthropic Educational Organization scholarship.

Criteria include academic success, community service and financial need. For more information click here, or email pal9948@aol.com.

==================================================

Staples graduate and prolific author Carl Addison Swanson has a new book out. It’s called “Thank You For Your Service!”

The author says: “The beloved boat bum Hush McCormick is back on center stage as he is hired by a veteran’s wife to get her husband out of an immigrant detention center in Buffalo.

“While the vet in question served his country honorably in Iraq with 2 deployments, he is not a naturalized citizen, and subject to deportation if he commits 3 misdemeanors or 1 felony. Follow Hush and his small band of Marines who try the impossible: help a fellow Marine get out of federal prison.”

Click here to order, and for more information.

==================================================

For today’s “Westport …. Naturally” feature, we head to Nash’s Pond.

And a fine feathered photo by Dan Nash.

(Photo/Dan Nash)

==================================================

And finally … hey, didn’t Bob Dylan kind of predict the mail drop thefts (story above) in this song?

(Whether you’re in Westport, Mobile, Memphis — or anywhere else in the world — if you enjoy “06880,” we hope you support our work. As Dylan says; “I want you.” Please click here to donate. Thanks!)

9 Comments

Posted in Arts, Library, Local politics, Real estate, Saugatuck, Staples HS

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Unsung Heroes #266

Posted on December 14, 2022 | 3 comments

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Until you get stuck behind an Amazon, FedEx, UPS, Postal Service or other delivery truck, double-parked or otherwise blocking your way as you hustle to get all your holiday gifts bought, wrapped and sent.

Of course, those delivery persons are making sure that someone else’s presents make it to their loved ones (or clients) on time too.

So: Give ’em a break. Don’t worry about the flashing lights, awkwardly open doors, or that by maneuvering around one delivery truck you may run smack into another.

Be thankful that Americans still buy and send gifts. That we have evolved a system that can get just about anything from just about anyplace to your front door, in just about 12 seconds.

Even if, occasionally, your package ends up on someone else’s door. Or vice versa.

Delivery people are overworked, overstressed, over-managed and underpaid.

They’re our Unsung Heroes of the Week.

And it wouldn’t hurt to leave a basket of goodies out for them, either.

 

3 Comments

Posted in Unsung Heroes

Tagged , , ,

Unsung Heroes #218

Posted on December 8, 2021 | 6 comments

Today’s Unsung Heroes selection is a no-brainer.

They’re true heroes this week, and next. Especially, the week after that one.

But really, our FedEx, UPS, US Post Office and Amazon delivery people are heroes 52 weeks of the year.

They bring us our our packages, quickly and efficiently.

They do it in all kinds of weather. They do it despite a dizzying array of obstacles: traffic, nowhere to park, locked gates, blocked paths, snarling dogs, vague addresses, missing house numbers, unwieldy packages … the list is as long as the long list of deliveries.

 

 

We complain occasionally that they put our stuff by doors we don’t use. Or they don’t ring the bell.

Well, boo hoo. If you or I had their job, we’d do it far less efficiently — and far less quickly — than they.

So this month. if you’ve got a regular delivery person, tip him or her handsomely.

If not, put some treats out for whoever shows up.

We’re lucky — especially during this pandemic — that we can order whatever we want, whenever we want to, knowing it will show up pretty much whenever it was promised.

We’re far luckier to have the men and women who make it possible. They are truly our Unsung Heroes.

IMPORTANT PS (ho ho!): I’m not forgetting our amazing US Postal Service letter carriers (who often carry packages too). I’ve featured several as Unsung Heroes over the years — including our very first Unsung Hero ever (click here).

Here’s one more shoutout to all our USPS carriers. Thank you for all you do, all the time, for all of us!

(To nominate an Unsung Hero, email dwoog@optonline.net)

6 Comments

Posted in Unsung Heroes

Tagged , ,

PO’d At The PO?

Posted on April 3, 2011 | 25 comments

How can I put this without sounding NIMBY?

Well, actually NIMFY.  You know:  Not In My Front Yard.

I live in what longtime Westporters call “the condos behind Friendly’s” — past the far end of Playhouse Square.

Others know it as “the condos behind Derma Clinic.”  But that’s been closed for over 2 years too.

Soon, I may be living in “the condos behind the post office.”

Yikes.

The entrance to Playhouse Square.

I’m not one to complain about certain changes.  When I bought my place I knew  there was a possibility that Winslow Park — despite being designated as open space in perpetuity — might become something other than a dog run.  When there was talk the YMCA might move there — even though the park is right in my BY — I was not displeased.

But the post office in Playhouse Square –WTF?

Fortunately, I’m not the only Westporter who is concerned.  RTM member Dick Lowenstein — who lives in Green’s Farms, and has a perfectly good post office very close to his own BY — has been motivated enough to write letters.

Over a year ago — after the US Postal Service announced that, for economic reasons, it would sell the building it’s owned since construction in 1936 — he contacted the USPS vice president in North Windsor, CT.  Dick noted that a post office is “core” to a functional, vibrant and efficient downtown area.  Consistent with the Town Plan of Conservation and Development, he said that of the 3 possible sites for a new post office, only one — the current location (though smaller than its current size) — was acceptable.

Dick noted that patrons would not walk to a Playhouse Square post office from downtown, making the current parking situation — “already tight” — worse.

If the USPS sold the current building to a developer, who then subdivided and gave the Postal Service a 2,000-square foot long-term lease, Dick said, a historic building would be saved; downtown Westport would keep an “anchor service,” the USPS would get cash; the developer would have a long-term tenant, and Westport would get the property back on its tax roll.

Perhaps Dick’s letter got lost in the mail.  Maybe others — including several from First Selectman Gordon Joseloff — did too.

This winter, the USPS announced its intention to move into Playhouse Square.  It expects to occupy the end unit, formerly filled by Friendly’s and Derma Clinic.

Westport's new post office?

According to Joseph J. Mulvey, a USPS “real estate specialist,” the proposed buyer of the downtown post office building — not yet publicly identified — does not want the post office to remain there.

Mulvey added that Playhouse Square “meets our requirements, is available, and was offered in response to our search for space.”

He believes the property will provide Westport with “an efficient, modern facility that offers a safe working environment for our employees and a level of service expected by our customers.”

Except those who try to drive there.  And then leave.

As anyone who shops at Playhouse Square knows, the parking lot is always crowded.  Many cars belong to employees themselves.

With over a dozen retail establishments — including an organic food store, frame shop, jewelry store and spa — open spots are at a premium.

A typical day in Playhouse Square.

Entering and exiting is always a problem.  There is one narrow entry lane; cars leaving funnel into a tight space, often backing up and blocking vehicles coming from the “upper” lot.

The United States Postal Service is in an unenviable position.  It has a difficult mandate — deliver mail to every citizen, everywhere in the country, at a low cost — and is buffeted by competition ranging from Fed Ex and UPS to faxes and email.

The question is:  Will moving this post office to a less convenient location help or hurt the USPS?

Click “Comments” to share your thoughts.  Or write.  I’m at 301 Post Road East.  You know:  the condos behind the already crowded Playhouse Square shopping center.  Right past what may soon become the post office.

25 Comments

Posted in Downtown, People, Places

Tagged , , ,