Kennedy, Gillibrand Demand USPS Reverse Decision to End Curbside Mail Delivery for Whistling Straits Residents

In Letter, Lawmakers Call on Postmaster General to Honor Commitment Made to Residents, Slam Agency's Bureaucratic Failures

WHEATFIELD, NY - Congressman Tim Kennedy (NY-26) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sent a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner demanding that the United States Postal Service (USPS) immediately reinstate its previous implementation of curbside mail delivery to the residents of the Whistling Straits subdivision in the Town of Wheatfield, New York.

After years of advocacy by residents and elected officials, local USPS leadership informed these families that curbside delivery would rightfully be implemented and began delivering it accordingly. However, in an inexcusable display of bureaucratic mismanagement, USPS has rescinded that decision, notifying residents that curbside mail delivery will end on August 28th, 2026.

The lawmakers called on USPS to honor the prior commitment it made to residents, arguing that families should not be punished because the agency failed to follow its own internal approval process. In the letter, Kennedy and Gillibrand criticized USPS for reversing course after beginning curbside delivery, urging the agency to immediately maintain curbside service and hold itself accountable for its own administrative failures. The lawmakers emphasized that Whistling Straits residents deserve the same practical mail delivery provided to surrounding neighborhoods and a Postal Service that keeps its word.

Read the full text of the letter below:

July 30, 2026

Postmaster General David Steiner
United States Postal Service
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, D.C. 20260

Dear Postmaster General Steiner,

We write to demand that the United States Postal Service (USPS) immediately cancel its inexplicable decision to reverse its commitment to provide curbside mail delivery to the residents of the Whistling Straits subdivision in the Town of Wheatfield, New York. After years of advocacy by residents, local officials, and our offices, local USPS leadership informed these families that curbside delivery would rightfully be implemented and began delivering it accordingly. Now, in a stunning display of bureaucratic mismanagement, your agency has rescinded that decision, notifying residents that curbside mail delivery will end on August 28th, 2026.

According to the letter your agency sent to affected homeowners, the local Postmaster "improperly changed the established mode of mail delivery" and lacked the authority to do so. Rather than taking responsibility for its own internal failures, USPS has instead chosen to punish the families who relied on the agency's representations in good faith. That is unacceptable. The facts underlying this case have not changed. Whistling Straits, consisting of Squire Drive and Piedmont Street, received local planning approvals before USPS adopted cluster mailbox units as the default delivery method for new developments in 2012, and the subdivision was designed accordingly. It has no homeowners association, no common property to maintain a centralized mailbox, and no sidewalks - conditions that make the installation and maintenance of a cluster mailbox both impractical and, particularly during Western New York winters, a legitimate public safety concern.

The residents of Whistling Straits have never sought special treatment, they have asked only for the same curbside mail delivery provided to the homes surrounding their neighborhood along Ward Road, Hoover Road, and Lockport Road. For years, they have been forced to purchase post office boxes and travel to retrieve mail because of a bureaucratic technicality that arose through no fault of their own. USPS ultimately acknowledged the merits of their case when it approved curbside delivery. The Postal Service should not now abandon that determination simply because it failed to follow its own internal procedures.

This situation has severely undermined local public confidence in the Postal Service. USPS made a decision and began implementing it, and allowed residents to believe the matter had finally been resolved before reversing course after discovering its own internal breakdown in governance. Postal customers deserve a Postal Service that communicates accurately, follows its own procedures, and accepts responsibility when it makes mistakes. Instead, the agency has demonstrated precisely the opposite.

Accordingly, we demand that USPS immediately reverse this decision and honor the commitment it made to the residents of Whistling Straits by maintaining curbside mail delivery. Families who have spent years advocating for fair treatment should not bear the consequences of the Postal Service's administrative failures.

The residents of Whistling Straits deserve competent leadership, accountable government, and a Postal Service that keeps its word. We intend to pursue every available avenue to ensure these families receive the equal treatment they have long fought for. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We look forward to your timely response.

Sincerely,

Timothy M. Kennedy
Member of Congress (NY-26)

Kirsten E. Gillibrand
United States Senator