House Advances Proposal Creating New Zip Code for Flanders, Riverside and Northampton

Press Release

Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) announced today that the Postal Service Reform Act of 2016, (H.R. 5714), a bipartisan bill that was introduced this week in the House, including a section within the bill that would mandate the hamlets of Flanders, Riverside, and Northampton, in the Town of Southampton on Eastern Long Island, be assigned a new, unique zip code, passed out of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform yesterday.

Within the Postal Service Reform Act of 2016, Congressman Zeldin secured his proposal in Section 211 of the bill, which can be found on pages 88-89, that states that upon this legislation being signed into law, the Flanders, Northampton, and Riverside communities in the Town of Southampton, New York, will receive a single, unique ZIP code no later than September 30, 2017. Currently, these three hamlets each share the same zip code, 11901, with the nearby Town of Riverhead, causing a number of issues in the local community.

Since entering Congress in 2015, Congressman Zeldin has been trying to work with the USPS to secure a new zip code for Flanders, Riverside, and Northampton. In August 2015, Congressman Zeldin signed and sent a letter to the Postmaster officially requesting that the hamlets of Flanders, Riverside, and Northampton, be assigned a new zip code in order to make them distinguishable from Riverhead Town. The Post Office, which denied the initial request that Congressman Zeldin then appealed, has since been unresponsive.

Congressman Zeldin said, "According to research initiated by the concerned residents of these hamlets, there are currently 18 identical street names and 32 similar street names - and possibly more - that are shared between these Southampton hamlets and Riverhead Town. This causes a number of issues in the local community and makes things very confusing for postal carriers, which leads to mail and packages being delivered to the wrong address, and sometimes even being routed as far away as Flanders, New Jersey. Furthermore, sometimes these packages aren't able to be delivered, with packages frequently being marked as "return to sender' or "address unknown.'"

Congressman Zeldin continued, "For residents of these three hamlets, this has been a top priority for several years. The overlapping zip codes of Flanders, Riverside, and Northampton with Riverhead has caused many issues, including delayed deliveries, which is not just a nuisance to the local community, but can also greatly impact quality of life, especially when the packages hold important goods like critical, life-altering medications. The shared street names and zip codes within the towns can also cause major problems for police, first responders, and other emergency personnel, who may arrive at the wrong address due to these shared street names with the same zip code. These kinds of mistakes and problems can all be avoided by assigning a new and unique zip code to Flanders, Riverside, and Northampton. Over the coming days and weeks, I will work with my colleagues in the House to ensure that this bill is passed before the end of the year."

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