Post Office to mark L.I.R.R.’s 175th birthday

New York, NY — New York City postal officials are commemorating the Long Island Rail Road’s 175th birthday by offering a special pictorial postmark at a temporary postal booth on Friday, April 24 at Penn Station’s 34th Street entrance corridor. The Long Island Rail Road was chartered on April 24, 1834 and is now considered the busiest commuter railroad in North America. The temporary postal booth at Penn Station will postmark mail, philatelic items, and other collectables from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Postal Service offers pictorial postmarks as a community service to commemorate local events celebrated in communities throughout the nation.

At 10:45 a.m. on April 24, LIRR officials, including President Helena Williams, will participate in a photo opportunity with an enlargement of the pictorial postmark at LIRR’s Penn Station 34th Street Entrance Corridor.

The LIRR Station pictorial postmark will be available only at the temporary philatelic station on April 24 and by mail-in request which has been entered into the mail stream no later than 30 days following the April 24 event. Customers wishing to obtain a postmark by mail should affix stamps to any envelope or postcard of their choice, address the envelope or postcard to themselves or others, insert a card of postcard thickness in envelopes for sturdiness, and tuck in the flap. Place the envelope or postcard in a larger envelope and address it to: Pictorial Postmark, U.S. Postal Service Special Events, P.O. Box 2001, New York, NY 10116-2001.

Customers can also send stamped envelopes and postcards without addresses for postmark, as long as they supply a larger envelope with adequate postage and their return address. After applying the pictorial postmark, the Postal Service returns the items (with or without addresses) under addressed protective cover.