Bronx General Post Office

The Bronx General Post Office is located at 552–582 Grand Concourse in the South Bronx in New York City, New York.{{cite web |date=May 14, 1937 |title=Bronx Postoffice Ready; Farley Will Dedicate and Open It Tomorrow Morning |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/05/14/archives/bronx-postoffice-ready-parley-will-dedicate-and-open-it-tomorrow.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The site occupies an entire city block,{{harvnb|National Park Service|1980|page=2}}; {{cite report |url=https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0837.pdf |title=Bronx Post Office |date=September 14, 1976 |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |access-date=November 17, 2024}}; with an area of about {{Convert|53800|ft2|m2 acre}}.{{Cite web |title=558 Grand Concourse, 10451 |url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/2/2443/400 |access-date=January 1, 2021 |publisher=New York City Department of City Planning}}{{cbignore}} It has a frontage of about {{Convert|196|ft}} on 149th Street to the south, {{Convert|276|ft}} on Anthony J. Griffin Place to the east, {{Convert|191|ft}} on 150th Street to the north, and {{Convert|279|ft}} on the Grand Concourse to the west.{{cite web |date=November 2, 1913 |title=Latest Dealings in the Realty Field; United States Government Takes Title to Site for Bronx Post Office |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/11/02/archives/latest-dealings-in-the-realty-field-united-states-government-takes.html |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Anthony J. Griffin Place, a short street at the rear of the building, was originally known as Spencer Place, but it was renamed after the death of U.S. Representative Anthony J. Griffin in 1936.{{cite book |last=McNamara |first=John |title=History in Asphalt: The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names, Borough of the Bronx, New York City |publisher=Published in collaboration with the Bronx County Historical Society [by] Harbor Hill Books |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-916346-31-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyinasphalt0000mcna/page/118/mode/2up |url-access=registration |page=118}} Hostos Community College and the entrances to the New York City Subway's 149th Street–Grand Concourse station are directly to the south, while Lincoln Hospital is to the southeast.{{Cite web |date=April 2018 |title=149th Street–Grand Concourse Neighborhood Map |url=https://new.mta.info/sites/default/files/2018-04/149%20St-Grand%20Concourse%20%282%29%285%29%20web.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703230513/https://new.mta.info/sites/default/files/2018-04/149%20St-Grand%20Concourse%20%282%29%285%29%20web.pdf |archive-date=July 3, 2018 |access-date=February 28, 2019 |website=new.mta.info |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority}} Prior to the construction of the post office building, the site had been divided into 22 land lots.{{Cite web |date=July 23, 1916 |title=Bronx Post Office |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-bronx-post-office/159170584/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=38}}

The Bronx General Post Office was designed by consulting architect Thomas Harlan Ellett for the Office of the Supervising Architect. When the building opened, Architectural Forum wrote that "the building subtly suggests a Georgian precedent without the use of traditional detail",{{harvnb|Architectural Forum|1938|ps=.|page=480}} while The New York Times described the architectural style as a "modern style with modified classical ornament".{{Cite news |date=February 26, 1975 |title=3 New Landmarks Backed at Hearings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/26/archives/3-new-landmarks-backed-at-hearings.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504040915/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/26/archives/3-new-landmarks-backed-at-hearings.html |archive-date=May 4, 2022 |access-date=May 3, 2022 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Ellett regarded the building as being designed in a "contemporary Georgian" style.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|page=9}} As built, the building is three stories high with a penthouse.

File:Bronx GPO GC rain jeh.jpg

The building is surrounded on all sides by a granite terrace, which has a classical-style balustrade. Because the site slopes down to the east, the basement is exposed on the building's eastern facade. To the west, a set of steps leads up to the main entrances on the Grand Concourse. The entrance steps are flanked by pedestals with swag and rosette motifs, which form the ends of the balustrade on either side. Atop the pedestals are bronze flagpole bases with foliate decorations.

The facade of the basement is made of granite.{{harvnb|Architectural Forum|1938|ps=.|page=483}} The rest of the facade is made of gray brick, with round-arched Vermont-marble frames around the windows and doors. Above the imposts of each arch are additional round arches made of brick, which encircle the marble frames of each window and door.{{harvnb|National Park Service|1980|ps=.|page=2}} There is a band course running across the facade above the Grand Concourse entrance, which bears the inscription "Bronx – United States Post Office – New York". The inscription is flanked by rosettes.

On the facade, flanking the Grand Concourse entrance, are two sculptures: The Letter by Henry Kreis and Noah by Charles Rudy. Both are carved out of white marble and measure {{Convert|4|ft}} wide by {{Convert|14|ft}} tall.{{cite news |date=June 12, 1936 |title=Two Sculptures For Post office In Bronx Picked: Charles Rudy, Henry Kreis Get $7,500 Commissions for Two 14-Fool Pieces Noah and Dove Is One Mother and Child Receiving a Letter Is the Other |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=23 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1237477738}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=June 12, 1936 |title=Chosen to Adorn Bronx Post Office; Rudy and Kreis Win Treasury Awards of $7,500 Each to Execute 2 Sculptures. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/06/12/archives/chosen-to-adorn-bronx-post-office-rudy-and-kreis-win-treasury.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Kreis's sculpture depicts someone giving a letter to a mother and child in their family.{{cite news |date=February 23, 2005 |title=Restore Eagle to Rightful Place ; Our Towns; Essex |work=The Hartford Courant |page=A8 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|256855609}}}} Rudy's sculpture depicts a dove giving a message to the biblical figure Noah after a great flood, an allusion to the USPS's unofficial motto "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds".{{cite web |title=Lehman College Art Gallery: Architecture/General Post Office,The Bronx |url=https://www.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/arch/buildings/PostOffice.html |access-date=July 1, 2020 |website=Lehman College}} Rudy was nominated for the Architectural League of New York's Henry O. Avery Prize for his work, receiving an honorable mention.{{cite web |date=April 22, 1937 |title=Architects Award Prizes in 3 Fields; Three Firms Share Honor for Rockefeller Center Designs—Cook's Murals Win |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/04/22/archives/architects-award-prizes-in-3-fields-three-firms-share-honor-for.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

Sources disagree on the building's precise area, though it has about {{convert|170,000|ft2}}.{{cite web |last=Cunningham |first=Jennifer H. |date=January 14, 2014 |title=Stamp of disapproval over sale |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/01/14/stamp-of-disapproval-over-sale/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}}{{Efn|Different sources cite the interior area as {{Convert|169000|ft2}}, {{Convert|170,000|ft2}}, or {{Convert|175000|ft2}}. The New York City Department of City Planning cites the building as having a gross floor area of {{Convert|175316|ft2}}.}} The floor slabs of the superstructure are composed of cinder concrete arches, while the floors themselves were covered in wood.{{cite web |last=Kensinger |first=Nathan |date=November 19, 2015 |title=After Sale, What Comes Next for the Bronx General Post Office? |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2015/11/19/9898438/after-sale-what-comes-next-for-the-bronx-general-post-office |access-date=November 19, 2024 |website=Curbed NY}} The building's exterior walls are generally made of brick, with a plaster finish on the interior, while the interior walls are made of plaster with metal wainscoting. The workspaces generally have exposed ceilings, and the lobby, corridors, and certain special rooms have plaster ceilings. The restrooms have glass wainscoting.

Originally, the main floor had about {{Convert|43000|ft2}} of usable space.{{cite web |date=May 16, 1937 |title=New Postoffice in Bronx Opened; Farley Calls It Example of Foresight Displayed Under Roosevelt Program |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/05/16/archives/new-postoffice-in-bronx-opened-farley-calls-it-example-of-foresight.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} On the first floor was the main lobby. The Internal Revenue Bureau also had a sub-office on the first floor, and mail carriers working the South Bronx worked on the same level. Mail collected from the South Bronx and Washington Heights, Manhattan, during afternoons and evenings were delivered to the first floor and then further distributed to recipients.{{cite web |date=December 23, 1934 |title=Bronx Postoffice Bids to Be Sought Soon; Plans Completed for Concourse Building |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/12/23/archives/bronx-postoffice-bids-to-be-sought-soon-plans-completed-for.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The second floor had about {{Convert|44000|ft2}} of usable space. The second floor handled mail that was headed to the South Bronx and Washington Heights, and it had sorting and distributing equipment. There were also work areas and lockers on the second floor. As built, the structure had a penthouse with {{Convert|17500|ft2}} of storage rooms and offices. The basement had a garage with room for over 100 vehicles, and the sub-basement had a power plant and engine room. There was also a shooting range for security guards, which was located on the roof.{{harvnb|Architectural Forum|1938|ps=.|page=481}} Throughout the building were a series of hidden passageways and ladders.

The main lobby is the only part of the building that is customarily accessible to the public.{{cite web |last=Fredi |first=Jacob |date=October 10, 2016 |title=Archtober Building of the Day: the Bronx Post Office |url=https://www.archpaper.com/2016/10/archtober-building-day-bronx-post-office/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The Architect's Newspaper}} As originally envisioned, the main lobby had postal windows. The main lobby is a double-height room designed in a modern classical style.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|page=4}} The space is split into five bays. The center three bays are aligned with the three entrances from the Grand Concourse, on the lobby's western wall, while the northernmost and southernmost bays correspond to the windows on either side of the entrance.

The floor is made of patterned dark-gray terrazzo and light-gray marble. The walls are wainscoted in marble, and there are murals atop the wainscoting on each of the walls. The ceiling is supported by full-height marble columns in the Ionic order, and there are marble Ionic pilasters along the walls. The ceilings themselves are made of plaster and are divided into coffers, with four globe-shaped lamps hanging from the ceiling. On the west wall, the three center bays contain exit doors (which replaced the original glass vestibules), and the outer bays have windows.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|pages=7–8}} The south wall has two marble pilasters, which flank a bronze gate topped by a marble plaque. Two engaged columns separate the east wall into three portions; the northern section of the east wall has customer-service counters, while the central and southern sections have niches. Pilasters also divide the north wall into three sections, with a doorway in the western section and customer-service counters in the other two sections. Polished brass was used for hardware and furniture, and there were also painted metal screens. The original furniture has been removed and replaced with equipment such as kiosks.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|page=8}}

The Bronx General Post Office is one of several 1930s post offices in New York City with murals that were painted through the Works Progress Administration program.{{cite web |last=Pollak |first=Michael |date=January 3, 2009 |title=Untrimming the Tree |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/nyregion/thecity/04fyi.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The lobby has thirteen mural panels inspired by the words of Walt Whitman.{{cite book |last=Linden |first=Diana L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jyvmCgAAQBAJ |title=Ben Shahn's New Deal Murals: Jewish Identity in the American Scene |publisher=Wayne State University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-8143-3984-8 |page=72 |chapter=Chapter 3: Whitman, Workers, and Censorship: Ben Shahns' Murals for the Bronx Central Post Office |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |author= |title=Ben Shahn Papers: Project Files: Bronx Central Annex Post Office Murals, NY 1939–1940 (Box 25, Folder 49) |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/ben-shahn-papers-6935/series-3/box-25-folder-49 |access-date=June 8, 2015 |website=Archives of American Art |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}} The series has variously been called The Industrial and Agricultural Resources of America, America at Work,{{cite web |last=Rourke |first=Mary |date=December 18, 2004 |title=Bernarda Shahn, 101; Author, Artist Known in Recent Decades for Painting |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-18-me-shahn18-story.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times}} Resources of America,See, for example: {{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=|page=5}}; {{Cite news |last=Gehman |first=Geoff |date=March 28, 1999 |title=Benevolent Bully Exhibition Shows Extremes of Ben Shahn's Political Storytelling |work=Morning Call |page=F01 |id={{ProQuest|392920675}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite magazine |last=Lambert |first=Josh |date=Jan 2017 |title=Ben Shahn's New Deal Murals: Jewish Identity in the American Scene |magazine=American Jewish History |page=104-I |volume=101 |issue=1 |id={{ProQuest|1866546128}}}} or just America. They were completed in 1939 by Ben Shahn and his partner (and later wife) Bernarda Bryson, who had been selected through an architectural design competition. The murals, made of egg tempera applied onto plaster,{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|page=6}}{{Cite magazine |last=O'Connor |first=Francis V. |date=November 1, 1968 |title=New Deal Murals in New York: "the Thirties," Due at the Whitney, Revives Interest in New Deal Art |magazine=Artforum |pages=41–49 |volume=7 |issue=3 |id={{ProQuest|2579374133}}}} celebrate American industry and the products of labor.{{cite web |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=February 2, 2013 |title=Postal Service Considers Sale of Bronx General Post Office |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/postal-service-considers-sale-of-bronx-general-post-office/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=City Room}} Twelve panels depict various workers in industry and agriculture. They are derived from photographs that Shahn took between 1935 and 1938, while he was employed by the Farm Security Administration. The largest panel, on the northern wall, depicts Whitman addressing American workers and their families; the panel includes depictions of farmhands, factory workers, and engineers.{{cite magazine |last=Park |first=Marlene |date=Fall 1979 |title=City and Country in the 1930s: A Study of New Deal Murals in New York |magazine=Art Journal |page=39 |volume=39 |issue=1 |id={{ProQuest|1290057343}}}} The Whitman panel originally contained a quote from one of Whitman's poems, which was swapped out after a Jesuit professor objected to it.

File:FWA-PBA-Paintings and Sculptures for Public Buildings-painting depicting textile worker in mill at large loom with... - NARA - 197274.tif|Celebrating the American textile industry

File:FWA-PBA-Paintings and Sculptures for Public Buildings-Bronx Central Station, New York, artist Ben Shahn-woman working... - NARA - 195795.tif|Woman working on a large loom

File:FWA-PBA-Paintings and Sculptures for Public Buildings-painting depicting "Bill of Rights"-a bearded man standing in... - NARA - 197275.tif|Walt Whitman addressing American workers and their families

The Bronx's population increased significantly in the early 20th century, as the development of the New York City Subway enabled residents to move out of overcrowded Manhattan neighborhoods such as the Lower East Side and East Harlem. By 1930, the Bronx had a million residents. The volume of mail sent to and from the Bronx was also increasing greatly; however, the borough did not have a central post office well into the 1930s.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|page=2}} From 1907 to 1915 alone, the volume of mail in the Bronx nearly doubled, from 27 to 50 million pieces of mail annually.

Government officials began clamoring for the development of a Bronx central post office in 1902, when Cornelius A. Pugsley introduced a bill in the United States House of Representatives, which proposed allocating $250,000{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=0.25|start_year=1902|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} for the construction of a post office in the Bronx.{{Cite web |date=February 21, 1902 |title=Brief Chronicles of a Day |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/yonkers-statesman-brief-chronicles-of-a/159125232/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=Yonkers Statesman |page=4 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=February 21, 1902 |title=Post Office for the Bronx; Provision for $250,000 Federal Building in Representative Pugsley's Bill. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/02/21/archives/post-office-for-the-bronx-provision-for-250000-federal-building-in.html |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Pugsley's bill failed after the money was diverted to other appropriations.{{Cite web |date=July 9, 1902 |title=Where Mr. Pugsley's Great Strength Lies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-statesman-where-mr-pugsleys/159125377/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The Herald Statesman |page=2}} No further progress was made for eight years, though civic associations were also advocating for a Bronx central post office by 1907.{{cite news |date=December 23, 1934 |title=U.S. to Ask Bids On Postoffice For Bronx Soon: Plans Complete, Building May Be Ready for Use Next Fall, Goldman Says Cost Will Be $1,500,000 Structure Sought by Civic Organization Since '07 |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=N2 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1221557816}}}}

In January 1910, the United States Department of the Treasury acquired a {{convert|276|by|100|ft|adj=on}} site on Spencer Place (now Anthony J. Griffin Place), between 149th and 150th streets, from Henry L. Morris for $100,000.{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=0.1|start_year=1910|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}{{cite web |date=January 21, 1910 |title=Bronx Post Office Site; Government Will Pay $100,000 for Plot Between 149th and 150th Streets. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/01/21/archives/bronx-post-office-site-government-will-pay-100000-for-plot-between.html |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=January 21, 1910 |title=Bronx Post Office Site Accepted |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/yonkers-statesman-bronx-post-office-site/159127128/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=Yonkers Statesman |page=4}} The New York Times wrote that the construction of the post office building would help spur development along 149th Street,{{Cite web |date=October 22, 1911 |title=Bronx Has New Crosstown Trolley Line Entering Manhattan Through 149th Street |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-bronx-has-new-crossto/159127260/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=113}} which was located near the Mott Avenue subway station and several businesses.{{cite news |date=November 2, 1913 |title=New Postoffice Site: Government Has Purchased Bronx Block for Building Quick Resale of House One Doctor Sells to Another the Five Story Dwelling in West 48th Street |work=New-York Tribune |page=C1 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|575174128}}}} The federal government subsequently moved to acquire the rest of the block, extending west to Mott Avenue (now the Grand Concourse), by eminent domain.{{Cite web |date=November 10, 1911 |title=The Real Estate Field |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-the-real-estate-field/159127641/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=15 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=April 21, 1911 |title=The Real Estate Market |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-the-real-estate-market/159127576/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The Sun |page=9}} Two commissioners were tasked with determining the value of the land. In 1912, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York affirmed the commissioners' report, which valued the land at $180,000.{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=0.18|start_year=1912|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}{{Cite web |date=November 23, 1912 |title=The Real Estate Field |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-the-real-estate-field/159127463/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=21}} The United States Congress allocated a total of $285,000{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=0.285|start_year=1912|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} for a post office on the site.{{cite news |date=October 14, 1917 |title=Stupendous Show Place to Cost $5,000,000; Marks 300th Year: Local Business Men, Headed by H. F. McGarvie, Say Financing and Execution of Plans Guarantee Success of Great Commercial Undertaking |work=New-York Tribune |page=C6 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|575767999}}}} The final portion of the allocation was secured in September 1913,{{cite web |date=September 28, 1913 |title=Hotchkiss School Status; Not Owned by Yale, Although Faculty Members Are Trustees. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/09/28/archives/hotchkiss-school-status-not-owned-by-yale-although-faculty-members.html |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and the U.S. government bought 13 buildings at 554–582 Mott Avenue that November, thereby obtaining full ownership of the block. The U.S. government continued to rent out the buildings to tenants.{{cite web |date=December 22, 1925 |title=Post Office for Bronx; House Bill Proposes $1,500,000 Building at East 149th Street. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/12/22/archives/post-office-for-bronx-house-bill-proposes-1500000-building-at-east.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

There were several unsuccessful attempts to secure funding for the building in the 1910s and 1920s. A $750,000 congressional appropriation for a new post office was proposed in 1916 as part of a wider-ranging bill, which called for $35 million worth of improvements to federal buildings.{{efn-lr|The appropriation for the post office is equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=0.75|start_year=1916|r=1|fmt=c}} million, and the total appropriation is equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=35|start_year=1916|r=1|fmt=c}} million, in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}.{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} A delegation of businessmen from the Bronx asked Congress to approve the appropriation.{{Cite web |date=December 10, 1916 |title=Waterfront Improvement |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-waterfront-improvemen/159171658/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=41}} The U.S. House of Representatives approved an $850,000{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=0.85|start_year=1917|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} appropriation in January 1917,{{Cite web |date=January 26, 1917 |title=Bronx Protects Pneumatic Mail Tube in Congress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-bronx-protects-pneuma/159175737/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=Mount Vernon Argus |page=10}} and U.S. Senator James W. Wadsworth Jr. introduced the appropriation bill in the Senate that February.{{Cite web |date=February 8, 1917 |title=Senator to Aid in Securing the New Post Office |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-senator-to-aid-in-sec/159176073/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=Mount Vernon Argus |page=8 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=February 6, 1917 |title=New Post Office for Bronx |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-new-post-office-for-bron/159176150/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=New York Herald |page=6}} Another such attempt occurred in 1919, when $1 million{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1|start_year=1919|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} for a central post office in the Bronx was proposed in the U.S. House's Public Buildings Appropriation Bill.{{Cite web |date=February 15, 1919 |title=Post Office Appropriation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/yonkers-statesman-post-office-appropriat/159176784/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=Yonkers Statesman |page=6 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=February 16, 1919 |title=$1,000,000 for New Bronx Post Office |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-1000000-for-new-bronx/159176830/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=New York Herald |page=4}}

The Bronx Board of Trade advocated for a Bronx central post office in 1925,{{cite news |date=December 17, 1925 |title=Bronx Enlists Congress Support For U.S. Building: Both Senators and Several Representative's Pledge Backing, Delegation Tells Borough Trade Board |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |page=14 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112944403}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=December 17, 1925 |title=Bronx Board Pushes Post Office Project; Trade Organization Also Sees the Commuter Terminal Plan as 'Hopeful.' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/12/17/archives/bronx-board-pushes-post-office-project-trade-organization-also-sees.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and U.S. Representative Benjamin L. Fairchild proposed allocating $1.5 million{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1.5|start_year=1925|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} for the purpose that December. The Board of Trade called on U.S. Postmaster General Harry New to begin constructing the post office building, an idea that New supported.{{cite news |date=December 9, 1926 |title=149th St. Postoffice Asked |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=15 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1112655550}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=December 9, 1926 |title=For Bronx Postal Edifice; Borough Delegates Urge Erection of Building Upon New. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/12/09/archives/for-bronx-postal-edifice-borough-delegates-urge-erection-of.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The Real Estate Board of New York, which also endorsed the building's construction, asked senator Wadsworth for help in getting the edifice constructed.{{Cite web |date=February 27, 1927 |title=N.Y. Real Estate Board Lays Out Program for Bronx |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-eagle-ny-real-estate-board-la/159185502/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=Brooklyn Eagle |page=41}} In 1929, the Board of Trade and the Bronx Chamber of Commerce again requested that a central post office be constructed at Mott Avenue and 149th Street.{{Cite web |date=April 30, 1929 |title=Bronx Postoffice Urged by Trade Board |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-statesman-bronx-postoffice-ur/159185728/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The Herald Statesman |page=7}} Later that year, the U.S. government finally committed to erecting a post office on the Mott Avenue site.{{cite web |date=December 19, 1929 |title=Gets Postoffice Pledge; Bronx Board Hears Committee Succeeded in Washington Mission. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/12/19/archives/gets-postoffice-pledge-bronx-board-hears-committee-succeeded-in.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

Postmaster General Walter F. Brown told the Bronx Board of Trade in 1930 that the United States Post Office Department was seriously considering the idea of a general mail-distribution facility at Mott Avenue and 149th Street, similar to the General Post Office in Manhattan.{{cite news |date=April 4, 1930 |title=Postoffice Lists $42,000,000 in Expansion Here: 8th Ave. Annex, Remodeling in Brooklyn, Bronx Concentration Station Named |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=1 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113134203}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=April 4, 1930 |title=$42,000,000 Outlay to Speed City's Mail; Brown Promises Manhattan 2 New Buildings in Program for Metropolitan Area |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/04/04/archives/42000000-outlay-to-speed-citys-mail-brown-promises-manhattan-2-new.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} After the Board of Trade invited Post Office Department officials to tour the Mott Avenue site in March 1931,{{cite news |date=March 19, 1931 |title=Philp to View Bronx Postal Site |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=24 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114071948}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=March 8, 1931 |title=Bronx Postoffice; Postal Officials Will Inspect 149th Street Site. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/03/08/archives/bronx-postoffice-postal-officials-will-inspect-149th-street-site.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} assistant postmaster general John W. Philp said that he would recommend that Congress provide money for the post office building.{{cite web |date=March 20, 1931 |title=Postoffice Action Assured for Bronx; Philp Tells 500 Civic Leaders Next Congress Will Be Urged to Push 18-Year-Old Project |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/03/20/archives/postoffice-action-assured-for-bronx-philp-tells-500-civic-leaders.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Subsequently, a $1.42 million{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1.42|start_year=1932|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} appropriation for the building was included in a bill presented to Congress in early 1932.{{cite news |date=January 10, 1932 |title=Building Increase in Bronx Borough: Aggregate Cost of Year's Permits Was Nearly $3,000,000 Ahead of 1930. |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=RE3 |id={{ProQuest|99752848}}}} However, Philp stated that July that the federal government could not immediately provide funding for the building.{{cite web |date=September 21, 1932 |title=Bronx Asks Hoover for a Postoffice; Commerce Chamber Carries Fight to Executive After Failure to Get Action. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/09/21/archives/bronx-asks-hoover-for-a-p0stoffice-commerce-chamber-carries-fight.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Subsequently, the Chamber of Commerce wrote directly to President Herbert Hoover, objecting to the lack of funding.{{cite web |date=September 17, 1932 |title=Bronx Postoffice Hot Yet Authorized; Congress Has Not Passed on It Despite Old Purchase of Site |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/09/17/archives/bronx-postoffice-hot-yet-authorized-congress-has-not-passed-on-it.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |date=September 21, 1932 |title=Bronx Post Office Dispute |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=6 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|130973163}}}} There were also disputes over where exactly the Bronx general post office should be located, but the Bronx Board of Trade refused to consider any site other than the Mott Avenue plot.{{cite news |last=Harrington |first=John Walker |date=November 6, 1932 |title=Postal Buildings Being Erected In Outlying Sections of City to Expand Distribution Facilities: New Structure on Staten Island First Completed in Group; Others Under Construction in Flushing and Jamaica; Another Planned for Bronx; Parcel Station on Manhattan Nearly Ready |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=A7 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114599874}}}}

Postmaster General James A. Farley said in February 1934 that the Post Office Department was considering a "concentration and distribution" building at the Grand Concourse and 149th Street.{{Cite web |date=February 4, 1934 |title=Farley Dedicates New Queens P. O.; Lauds Roosevelt |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-farley-dedicates-new-queens/159195104/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=Times Union |page=7}} That June, Farley and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. announced that a post office would be built on the site.{{cite web |date=June 25, 1934 |title=2 New Postoffices to Be Erected Here; Downtown Federal Building and Bronx Mail Centre Approved in Vast Program |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/06/25/archives/2-new-postoffices-to-be-erected-here-downtown-federal-building-and.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=June 24, 1934 |title=New $1,700,000 Postoffice in Bronx Assured: Borough President Gets Word From Washington That Project Is Approved Site Bought 20 Years Ago 2 Subway Stations at Door, 149th, Grand Concourse |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=5 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114838634}}}} The federal government provided an appropriation for the building the same month, which was variously cited as $1.575 million{{cite news |date=August 26, 1934 |title=Bronx Post Office: Trade Board Notified That Plans Are Being Prepared |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=RE22 |id={{ProQuest|101221175}}}}{{cite news |date=June 19, 1935 |title=Failure to Grade Street Delays Bronx Postoffice: Structural Change Necessary Unless Cily Acts Soon |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=33 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1221592680}}}} or $1.750 million.{{efn-lr|Equivalent to between ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1.575|start_year=1934|r=1|fmt=c}} million and ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1.75|start_year=1934|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}{{cite news |date=October 28, 1934 |title=Bids Will Be Opened Next Month For New Downtown Postoffice Replacing City Hall Landmark: Structure Soon to Rise on Cleared Site at Vesey Street and West Broadway; Other Buildings in $17,000,000 Construction Program Nearing Completion; Annex Ahead of Schedule |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=A3 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1125491821}}}} This funding was made available through the Public Works Administration (PWA) program, which also included the development of 28 other buildings in New York City and several thousand more such projects nationwide. That August, the Treasury Department notified the Bronx Board of Trade that it was conducting a study of the Grand Concourse site. Before work on the building itself began, the Department of the Treasury informed the city government that the surrounding area had to be graded and that some utilities had to be relocated. The city had to pay for the grading work, since it was ineligible for federal funding.{{Cite web |date=October 19, 1934 |title=Post Office Site Grading Demanded |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-post-office-site-grading-dema/159188681/ |access-date=November 16, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=494 |issn=2692-1251 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=October 19, 1934 |title=Bronx Postoffice Pushed; Mayor Asks Lyons to Further Plans for New Building. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/10/19/archives/bronx-postoffice-pushed-mayor-asks-lyons-to-further-plans-for-new.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

Louis A. Simon—the Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury—and his staff were responsible for the design of many PWA projects. However, the large number of new PWA buildings prompted Simon to hire 21 architects and 300 draftsmen on a temporary basis; among these architects was Thomas Harlan Ellett, who was tasked with designing the Bronx General Post Office.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|pages=2–3}} Ellett finished his plans for the building in December 1934, and these plans were submitted to the New York City Department of Buildings early the next year. The plans called for a two-story building with a basement. The post office was to have a garage in the rear and employee rooms on the second story, and it would be sturdy enough to support the future construction of additional floors. By June 1935, the city government had not allocated any money for grading the site. A U.S. Treasury official warned that, if the city could not re-grade Spencer Place, the building would have to be redesigned to eliminate a proposed driveway that led from Spencer Place. There were also delays in excavating the site.{{Cite web |date=October 10, 1936 |title=Bronx Urged to Organize |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-bronx-urged-to-organi/159222423/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=Mount Vernon Argus |page=7}}

The Cauldwell-Wingate Company received a $1.032 million{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1.032|start_year=1935|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} construction contract for the building in September 1935.{{cite news |date=September 5, 1935 |title=Bronx Postoffice Contract Let |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=15 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1329383918}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=September 5, 1935 |title=Bronx Post Office Award; Treasury Gives $1,032,273 Job to Cauldwell-Wingate. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/05/archives/bronx-post-office-award-treasury-gives-1032273-job-to.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Philip C. Smith Jr. was hired as the construction engineer.{{Cite web |date=January 29, 1936 |title=$8,000 Expended on Post Office |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-8000-expended-on-po/159218339/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=Mount Vernon Argus |page=14}} At the time, the building was expected to be completed by October 1936.{{cite news |date=December 6, 1935 |title=Farley Asserts U.S. Was Saved By Roosevelt: Dedicating $10,000,000 Postoffice Annex Here, Sees Prosperity in Offing |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=21 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1330572116}}}} A groundbreaking ceremony for the building took place on June 13, 1936;{{cite web |date=June 14, 1936 |title=Critics' 'Bugaboo' Derided by Farley; Liberty League and Republican Old Guard Try to Frighten the Voters, He Charges |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/06/14/archives/critics-bugaboo-derided-by-farley-liberty-league-and-republican-old.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |last=Kenney |first=George |date=June 14, 1936 |title=Landon Just a G.O.P. Hoax, Says Farley |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-landon-just-a-gop-hoax-sa/159222484/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |pages=332, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-landon-just-a-gop-hoax-sa/159222545/ 373] |issn=2692-1251}} to mark the occasion, Bronx borough president James J. Lyons decreed that day a borough holiday.{{Cite web |date=June 8, 1936 |title=Holiday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mount-vernon-argus-holiday/159218550/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=Mount Vernon Argus |page=9}} The same month, Charles Rudy and Henry Kreis were each hired to create a sculpture for the building's facade. Rudy and Kreis, who received $7,500 each for their work,{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=7500|start_year=1932|r=0|fmt=c}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US|group=lower-alpha}}}} had beat out nearly 400 other sculptors who had submitted designs to the Treasury Department. Both men were hired through the Treasury's Section of Painting and Sculpture.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|page=3}} The project employed 180 workers.{{Cite web |date=September 22, 1936 |title=100 Strike on P. O. Construction Job |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-100-strike-on-p-o-construct/159219910/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=392 |issn=2692-1251}} Construction was halted temporarily in September 1936 after stonecutters on the site went on strike, alleging that non-union laborers had been employed to cut the Vermont marble;{{Cite news |date=September 23, 1936 |title=Scab Vermont Marble Halts Bronx Post Office Job |work=The Daily Worker |page=3 |id={{ProQuest|1980658286}}}} at the time, the building had been erected to the first floor. The strike was settled after a week.{{Cite web |date=September 29, 1936 |title=Settle Strike at Bronx Post Office |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-settle-strike-at-bronx-post-o/159219981/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=45 |issn=2692-1251}} The building was completed by April 1937,{{cite web |date=April 27, 1937 |title=New Postoffices Ready; Bronx Unit and Two Others Will Be Opened Next Month |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/04/27/archives/new-postoffices-ready-bronx-unit-and-two-others-will-be-opened-next.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} having cost either $1.03 million or $1.25 million to erect.{{efn-lr|Equivalent to between ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1.03|start_year=1937|r=1|fmt=c}} million and ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1.25|start_year=1937|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}

File:Bronx Grand Concourse GPO from across the street.JPG

The building opened on May 15, 1937, when postmaster general Farley dedicated the building in front of 3,000 people. At the time, the building was expected to handle 500,000 pieces of mail every day.{{cite news |date=May 16, 1937 |title=New Postoffice Dedicated by Farlev in Bronx: City Ready to Sue New York Central for R. R. Station Near $1,250,000 Building Will Extend Air Tubes 18 More Branches Promised by Postmaster General Farley Dedicates a New Postoffice in the Bronx |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=17A |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1240377383}}}} The structure also contained space for the Internal Revenue Bureau, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Treasury. Because it supplemented the Central Post Office in Manhattan, the new post office was officially known as the Bronx Central Annex. The post office's first superintendent was William H. Farrell Jr.,{{cite news |date=May 14, 1937 |title=Bronx Postal Staff Picked |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=44 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1240532054}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=May 14, 1937 |title=Bronx Postoffice Ready; Parley Will Dedicate and Open It Tomorrow Morning |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/05/14/archives/bronx-postoffice-ready-parley-will-dedicate-and-open-it-tomorrow.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} a Bronx resident who had worked for the Post Office Department since 1891;{{cite web |date=May 4, 1941 |title=Postal Veteran 50 Years on Job; W.H. Farrell Jr. of Bronx Office to Mark Anniversary Tuesday |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/05/04/archives/postal-veteran-50-years-on-job-wh-farrell-jr-of-bronx-office-to.html |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} he worked there until 1943.{{cite web |date=December 2, 1943 |title=Postal Veteran, 70, Quits After 52 Years; Spends First Day off the Job Idling at Bronx Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/02/archives/postal-veteran-70-quits-after-52-years-spends-first-day-off-the-job.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Several longtime Post Office Department employees from the Bronx were also hired as the post office building's assistant superintendents, assistant cashier, and foremen. Simultaneously with the completion of the Bronx Central Annex, local businesspeople and Bronx borough president James J. Lyons asked the New York Central Railroad, whose tracks ran next to the building, to construct a commuter rail station there. The railroad had promised to build the station for several decades, but it was never constructed.{{cite news |date=March 4, 1937 |title=City to Press Demand For Bronx Rail Station |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=40 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1240524531}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |title=New Rail Station Urged for Bronx; Lyons Asks La Guardia to Force New York Central to Erect Large Center |website=The New York Times |date=July 11, 1937 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/07/11/archives/new-rail-station-urged-for-bronx-lyons-asks-la-guardia-to-force-new.html |access-date=December 31, 2024}}

Shortly after the Bronx Central Annex's completion, the Treasury asked artists to submit designs for 13 murals that were being planned for the building's lobby; the winner was to receive $7,000.{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=7000|start_year=1919|r=0|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US|group=lower-alpha}}}}{{Cite web |date=February 13, 1938 |title=Competitions for Artists Announced by Government |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-competi/159228826/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The Central New Jersey Home News |page=5}} The Treasury appointed Ellett and Henry Varnum Poor to review the designs.{{cite web |date=May 22, 1938 |title=2 Jersey Artists Win in Mural Test; Hightstown Painters Selected by Treasury to Decorate New Bronx Postoffice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/05/22/archives/2-jersey-artists-win-in-mural-test-hightstown-painters-selected-by.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Ellett and Poor received 198 designs from artists in the northeastern United States. That May, Ellett and Poor selected the artists Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson to design the murals.{{Cite web |date=May 22, 1938 |title=2 Win Mural Job |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-2-win-mural-job/159229049/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=266 |issn=2692-1251}} Seventeen runners-up were invited to design murals for other post offices around the country; for example, after Amy Jones submitted a proposal for the Bronx Post Office, she was invited to design a mural for the Painted Post, New York, post office.{{Cite web |date=October 7, 1938 |title=Artists Asked to Submit Mural Designs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/elmira-star-gazette-artists-asked-to-sub/159229329/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=Elmira Star-Gazette |page=11}} Shahn and Bryson hung mockups of the murals in the Bronx Central Annex's lobby in December 1938. The same month, Ignatius W. Cox, a priest on the faculty at Fordham University in the Bronx, objected to the inclusion of a quotation by Walt Whitman, which Cox claimed was an endorsement of religious skepticism.{{cite news |date=December 13, 1938 |title=Protested Postoffice Poem to Receive Federal Scrutiny |work=Los Angeles Times |pages=5 |issn=0458-3035 |id={{ProQuest|164920008}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=December 12, 1938 |title=Bronx Postoffice Mural Assailed By Father Cox as Insult to Religion; He Terms Its Whitman Lines 'Government Propaganda' and Urges Catholic Protest—Artist Offers to Omit Them |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/12/12/archives/bronx-postoffice-mural-assailed-by-father-cox-as-insult-to-religion.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} As such, work on the panels was temporarily halted in December 1938,{{cite news |date=December 12, 1938 |title=Protest Halts Whitman's 'Irreligious' Verse for Postoffice Mural: Father Cox Calls Poem an 'Insult to Christianity'; Artist Willing to Yield on Decoration in Bronx |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=1 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1260787426}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=December 13, 1938 |title=Artist Halts Work on Postoffice Mural; Awaits Washington Decision on Use of Whitman Quotation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/12/13/archives/artist-halts-work-on-postoffice-mural-awaits-washington-decision-on.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and the Whitman quotation was swapped out with another quote. In addition, a reference to the Deering company had to be removed from another panel owing to concerns over commercial promotion. The murals were finished in August 1939.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|pages=6–7}}

The building remained in use as a post office for the rest of the 20th century.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|page=7}} In its early years, the building hosted events such as Christmas tree lighting parties{{cite web |date=December 17, 1939 |title=Wrap Well and Mail Early, Farley Warns; Speaks at Dedication of Tree at General Postoffice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/12/17/archives/wrap-well-and-mail-early-farley-warns-speaks-at-dedication-of-tree.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and traveling stamp displays.{{cite news |date=June 3, 1939 |title=Stamp Notes |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=11 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1255579288}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=June 1, 1939 |title=Stamp Exhibit Truck Has Its Preview Here; Several Hundred Philatelists Inspect Collection |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/06/01/archives/stamp-exhibit-truck-has-its-preview-here-several-hundred.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In 1943, the Bronx Central Annex was designated as the post office for New York postal district 51. The postal district, a predecessor to the modern ZIP Code, was bounded by the Harlem River to the southwest, Jerome Avenue and 161st Street to the north, and Third Avenue and Courtland Avenue to the east.{{cite news |date=May 14, 1943 |title=Numbers for Manhattan, Bronx Postal Districts in New System |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=26 |id={{ProQuest|106602749}}}} An automatic mail-sorting machine known as the Mailomat was installed at the Bronx Central Annex in 1947, allowing patrons to send mail when the building was closed.{{cite magazine |date=September 6, 1947 |title=Mailomat Out |magazine=The Billboard |page=95 |volume=59 |issue=35 |id={{ProQuest|1040080708}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=August 26, 1947 |title=Automatic Mail Machine Put in Bronx Postoffice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/08/26/archives/automatic-mail-machine-put-in-bronx-postoffice.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} An automatic stamp vending machine was added to the building the next year.{{cite web |date=May 7, 1948 |title=Stamp Machine in Use; First of 1,500 Devices Set Up in General Post office Lobby |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/05/07/archives/stamp-machine-in-use-first-of-1500-devices-set-up-in-general-post.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

The Post Office Department installed a curbside mailbox outside the building in 1951, allowing patrons to send mail from their cars; it was one of the first such mailboxes installed in New York City.{{cite news |date=March 22, 1951 |title=Drive-Up Mail Box Set Up On 8th Av. Near 33d St |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=3 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1320020481}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=March 22, 1951 |title=Mailbox at Curb Set Up for Autos; Making Use of New Drive-up Mailbox |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/03/22/archives/mailbox-at-curb-set-up-for-autos-making-use-of-new-driveup-mailbox.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The following year, the Bronx Central Annex was designated as the distribution hub for mail to and from the Highbridge, the Hub, Mott Haven, Morrisania, Melrose, and Morris Heights neighborhoods in the southwestern Bronx. Previously, mail to and from these neighborhoods had been handled at other post offices.{{cite web |last=Feinberg |first=Alexander |date=September 14, 1952 |title=New Mail Routing Trims Costs, Time; System Started in the Bronx in Economy Drive – Letters Sent to 4 Terminal Points |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/09/14/archives/new-mail-routing-trims-costs-time-system-started-in-the-bronx-in.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In addition, to encourage patrons and mail carriers to have themselves tested for tuberculosis, the New York City Department of Health temporarily installed an X-ray machine in the building's lobby in 1955.{{cite news |date=December 13, 1955 |title=City Starts TB Hunt |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=25 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1328095608}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=December 13, 1955 |title=X-Rays in Bronx Postoffice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/12/13/archives/xrays-in-bronx-postoffice.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

By the early 1960s, about 427 million pieces of mail were being sent to the Bronx annually, and about 189 million pieces of mail were being sent from the borough every year. However, the Bronx still shared a sectional center facility (SCF) with Manhattan, which caused mail deliveries in both boroughs to be delayed; by contrast, the boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island each had their own SCFs, and the borough of Queens had four SCFs.{{cite news |date=August 3, 1962 |title=New Postoffice: Please Forward To Bronx, U. S. |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=13 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326912090}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=August 3, 1962 |title=Separate Post Office Is Ordered for the Bronx to Speed Mail Service |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/08/03/archives/separate-post-office-is-ordered-for-the-bronx-to-speed-mail-service.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} As such, the Post Office Department agreed to establish a separate SCF for the Bronx in 1962, and the Central Annex became the Bronx General Post Office when the SCF was created the following January.{{cite news |date=January 5, 1963 |title=Bronx P.O. Dedicated This Saturday |work=New Pittsburgh Courier |page=3 |id={{ProQuest|371622491}}}} Letters to and from the Bronx, which formerly went to Manhattan's General Post Office first, were instead processed directly at the Bronx General Post Office. To mark the upcoming implementation of ZIP Codes, a wooden mascot called Mr. Zip was dedicated at the Bronx General Post Office that May.{{Cite web |date=May 22, 1963 |title=Mr. Zip Nips In to Speed Mails |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-mr-zip-nips-in-to-speed-mail/159246835/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=578 |issn=2692-1251}}

The United States Congress received plans in July 1963 for $2.3 million{{efn-lr|equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=2.3|start_year=1963|r=1|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} in modifications to the Bronx General Post Office, which was to be renovated after other federal agencies had moved out of the building.{{cite web |date=July 18, 1963 |title=Congress Gets Proposals For Bronx Post Office |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/07/18/archives/congress-gets-proposals-for-bronx-post-office.html |access-date=November 16, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The U.S. House approved the modifications at the end of the month,{{Cite web |date=July 31, 1963 |title=U.S. Building Plans in Bronx Okayed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-us-building-plans-in-bronx/159247169/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=137 |issn=2692-1251}} as did the U.S. Senate that August.{{cite web |date=August 21, 1963 |title=New Bronx Post Office Voted by Senate Unit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/08/21/archives/new-bronx-post-office-voted-by-senate-unit.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In 1967, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced plans for a new central post office at Fordham Road and Third Avenue.{{cite web |date=June 7, 1967 |title=Design Is Approved for a $14-Million Post Office to Be Built in Bronx |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/06/07/archives/design-is-approved-for-a-14million-post-office-to-be-built-in-bronx.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The new building was to take over the functions of the existing post office building on the Grand Concourse, as well as a garage on Gerard Avenue.{{Cite web |date=April 12, 1970 |title=Nixon Hit for 'Defunding' of Post Office |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-nixon-hit-for-defunding-of/159250057/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=200 |issn=2692-1251}} By then, the existing building had been deemed obsolete, and its murals were also in very poor condition. An information center for federal government jobs opened at the Bronx General Post Office in 1968.{{cite web |date=January 9, 1968 |title=Job Data Center Opens |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/01/09/archives/job-data-center-opens.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} President Richard Nixon ultimately canceled funding for the new building on Fordham Road.

File:Mural in Bronx Post Office from WPA era.jpg

By 1970, the Post Office Department sought to rent {{Convert|2300|ft2}} of office space nearby because of a lack of space in the existing structure.{{Cite news |date=May 23, 1970 |title=Bronx P.O. Seeks Space For Office |work=New York Amsterdam News |page=35 |id={{proQuest|226619785}}}} The same year, Hiram H. Hoelzer began restoring the interior murals the same year on behalf of the GSA.{{harvnb|Baldwin|1977|ps=.|pages=15–16}} This project cost $9,000{{efn-lr|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=9000|start_year=1970|r=0|fmt=c}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation/fn|US|group=lower-alpha}}}} and was completed in 1971. Bulletin boards and telephones were installed afterward, overlapping parts of the murals. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) began considering designating the General Post Office as a city landmark in 1975. However, two other city agencies asked the LPC to defer the designation, as the Post Office Department's successor, the United States Postal Service (USPS), was considering expanding the building. The LPC ultimately designated the building's exterior as a city landmark in September 1976.{{Cite web |last=Miele |first=Al |date=September 15, 1976 |title=Miss Liberty Designated a Landmark |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-miss-liberty-designated-a-lan/159251018/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=7 |issn=2692-1251}}{{cite web |date=June 21, 2018 |title=Bronx Post Office – Exterior and Interior |url=https://hdc.org/buildings/bronx-post-office/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=HDC}}{{Efn|A Staten Island Advance article from November 1975 reported on the designation,{{Cite web |date=November 26, 1975 |title=Landmark status considered for 2 Island sites |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/staten-island-advance-landmark-status-co/159250923/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=Staten Island Advance |page=4}} but the LPC's own designation report dates from September 1976.}} A two-year-long renovation of the lobby began in 1975, which included modifications to the lobby's east wall and the removal of decorations such as grilles, desks, and screens. The murals were restored,{{cite web |last=Ferretti |first=Fred |date=April 7, 1977 |title=Post Office Restoring Shahn Murals in Bronx |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/07/archives/post-office-restoring-shahn-murals-in-bronx.html |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{harvnb|Baldwin|1977|ps=.|pages=16–17}} and the telephone booths and bulletin boards on the murals were removed.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013|ps=.|page=11}}

The Bronx General Post Office was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.{{cite web |date=February 3, 1981 |title=Federal Register: 46 Fed. Reg. 10451 (Feb. 3, 1981) |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/fedreg/fr046/fr046022/fr046022.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201110754/https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/fedreg/fr046/fr046022/fr046022.pdf |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |access-date=March 8, 2020 |publisher=Library of Congress |page=10648 (PDF p. 178)}} Additional modifications were made to the lobby in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including the addition of more furniture and the replacement of doors. The New York Daily News wrote in 1984 that "the building has not received the attention it deserves" and that customers and passersby alike largely ignored its architecture.{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=John |date=December 7, 1984 |title=Grand Post Office Nears 50 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-grand-post-office-nears-50/159253451/ |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=271 |issn=2692-1251}} The building's manager, Anthony Kienle, conversely said that graduate students visited the post office to write dissertations about the murals.{{cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Michael T. |date=February 25, 1995 |title=About New York; On a Bronx Wall, Faded Colors of an Era of Hope |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/25/nyregion/about-new-york-on-a-bronx-wall-faded-colors-of-an-era-of-hope.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} By then, the Bronx General Post Office processed not only mail from the Bronx, but also mail deposited in mailboxes and post offices in Upper Manhattan north of 80th Street.{{Cite web |last=Lippman |first=Barbara |date=July 12, 1987 |title=IRS check puts happy end to taxing situation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-irs-check-puts-happy-end-to-t/159255993/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=614 |issn=2692-1251}} By 1989, there were plans to move the USPS's borough headquarters to a larger facility on the Hutchinson River Parkway.{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=John |date=November 8, 1989 |title=Meet Mr. Postmaster |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-meet-mr-postmaster/159257233/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=441 |issn=2692-1251}} The relocation was delayed in the early 1990s after the USPS sought to eliminate unnecessary expenses nationwide.{{cite web |last=Purdy |first=Matthew |date=April 18, 1994 |title=Bronx Postal Building Fails to Stem Mail Delays |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/18/nyregion/bronx-postal-building-fails-to-stem-mail-delays.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Olmeda |first=Rafael A. |date=April 19, 1994 |title=Technical woes may nix plans for mail center |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-technical-woes-may-nix-plans/159288018/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=361 |issn=2692-1251}}

By the mid-1990s, the Bronx General Post Office was near capacity; the USPS was unable to install new sorting equipment because of a lack of space, and the agency also could not easily expand the building because it was a protected landmark. The landmark designations even prevented the USPS from installing bulletproof plastic shields at the customer-service counters, a feature that had been installed at every other post office in the Bronx.{{cite news |date=March 23, 1995 |title=Barriers: To Protect And Serve |work=Newsday |page=A.07 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278839768}}}} To alleviate congestion at the Bronx General Post Office, the USPS began sorting some Bronx mail in Manhattan, Queens, and Westchester County in 1993.{{cite web |last=Purdy |first=Matthew |date=March 12, 1994 |title=Bronx Mystery: 3d-Rate Service for 1st-Class Mail |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/12/nyregion/bronx-mystery-3d-rate-service-for-1st-class-mail.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} However, this move caused Bronx mail to be delayed, sometimes by several weeks, so the USPS promised in 1994 to upgrade the Bronx General Post Office's sorting equipment instead.{{cite web |last=Purdy |first=Matthew |date=May 10, 1994 |title=Postal Service to Resume Mail Sorting in the Bronx |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/10/nyregion/postal-service-to-resume-mail-sorting-in-the-bronx.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} By then, New York Times reporter Grace Glueck wrote that the building's murals had again become dilapidated.{{cite web |last=Glueck |first=Grace |date=January 7, 1994 |title=A Guide to the City's Depression Murals |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/07/arts/a-guide-to-the-city-s-depression-murals.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Upon reading a Times article about the murals, American Postal Workers Union president Moe Biller hired the conservator Alan Farancz to restore the murals. Farancz and an assistant completed their restoration in 1996.{{cite web |date=November 10, 1996 |title=Murals From 30's Glow Again |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/10/nyregion/murals-from-30-s-glow-again.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

In the 2000s, a professor at the City University of New York's Lehman College created a website documenting the building's murals.{{cite web |last=Zimmer |first=William |date=February 1, 2004 |title=Art Review; For Visitors to See These Works, It's Just a Click |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/01/nyregion/art-review-for-visitors-to-see-these-works-it-s-just-a-click.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Postal workers and local community groups established the Bronx Coalition to Save Our Post Offices in late 2005, amid reports that the USPS was considering moving the Bronx General Post Office's processing facilities to Manhattan.{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Zita |date=March 9, 2006 |title=New York postal union fighting to save post offices |work=New York Amsterdam News |page=11 |id={{proQuest|390345110}}}}{{cite web |last=Egbert |first=Bill |date=March 20, 2006 |title=Out of Sorts at P.O. plan; Workers hit possible Bronx closings |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2006/03/20/out-of-sorts-at-po-plan-workers-hit-possible-bronx-closings/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}} At the time, the USPS was conducting a feasibility study on whether to consolidate mail-processing facilities, though it denied that such a change would delay mail deliveries in the Bronx. After U.S. Representative José E. Serrano raised concerns, the USPS Inspector General's office agreed to reconsider plans to relocate the building's mail-processing facility.{{cite web |date=March 14, 2007 |title=Serrano halts plans to shut 3 mail centers |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2007/03/14/serrano-halts-plans-to-shut-3-mail-centers/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}} Ultimately, the USPS Inspector General recommended in late 2007 that the processing and distributing functions be moved to the Morgan General Mail Facility in Manhattan.{{cite web |last=Beyer |first=Gregory |date=October 14, 2007 |title=Manhattan: You've Got Mail |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/nyregion/thecity/14post.html |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The processing and distributing facilities were ultimately relocated in 2011, though the building continued to be used as a neighborhood post office.{{cite web |last=Samuels |first=Tanyanika |date=February 7, 2013 |title=Bronx leaders fire back as USPS considers sale of Bronx General Post Office on the Grand Concourse |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2013/02/07/bronx-leaders-fire-back-as-usps-considers-sale-of-bronx-general-post-office-on-the-grand-concourse/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}}{{cite web |last=Hiatt |first=Anna |date=January 23, 2014 |title=Resistance to sales of post offices grows nationwide |url=https://www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/local/2014/01/23/resistance-to-sales-post-offices/40339348007/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=Norwich Bulletin}}

File:Bronx Central Annex fr train jeh.jpg

In a letter dated December 31, 2012, the USPS announced that it was considering selling the Bronx General Post Office. Most of the operations had already been relocated from the building,{{cite web |url=http://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/ny/2013/ny_2013_0118c.htm |title=Public Announcement – USPS Considering selling the Bronx General Post Office |last=Chirichello |first=Connie |date=January 18, 2013 |publisher=United States Postal Service |access-date=June 9, 2015}} and the USPS estimated that it needed only {{Convert|7300|ft2}} for a post office in the neighborhood. At the time, the USPS was selling some 200 buildings in light of declining mail volume and the growth of online services.{{cite news |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |date=March 7, 2013 |title=Post Office Buildings With Character, and Maybe a Sale Price |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/arts/design/preservationists-fight-postal-service-over-sales.html |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=June 9, 2015}} Only 20 to 25 percent of the building's interior was in use,{{cite magazine |last=McEnery |first=Thornton |date=February 10, 2014 |title=Post office's fate clouds comeback |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=3 |volume=30 |issue=6 |id={{ProQuest|1501428407}}}} and its staff had been reduced to 30 or 40 people.{{cite news |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=February 5, 2014 |title=Protest Aside, Postal Service Is Taking Next Step to Sell Grand Property in the Bronx |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/05/nyregion/protest-aside-postal-service-is-taking-next-step-to-sell-grand-property-in-the-bronx.html |access-date=June 9, 2015 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Since the building occupied a large site at the intersection of two major streets, it was a prime site for redevelopment. The USPS estimated that the building was worth $14 million. The USPS began hosting public meetings about the proposed sale in February 2013,{{cite web |last=Cruz |first=David |date=March 23, 2013 |title=Bronx GPO officially on the market – Bronx Times |url=https://www.bxtimes.com/bronx-gpo-officially-on-the-market/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=Bronx Times}} but few residents attended these hearings, reportedly because they were poorly publicized.{{cite web |last=Cruz |first=David |date=July 26, 2013 |title=Hurdles in sale of Bx GPO – Bronx Times |url=https://www.bxtimes.com/hurdles-in-sale-of-bx-gpo/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=Bronx Times}}

Residents and politicians organized in opposition to the proposed sale. Nearly every elected official representing the Bronx asked the USPS not to sell the building.{{cite news |last=Samuels |first=Tanyanika |date=April 3, 2013 |title=Stamp of disapproval Pols pen letter voicing 'strongest objections' to post office sale |work=New York Daily News |page=39 |issn=2692-1251 |id={{ProQuest|1323116501}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Cruz |first=David |date=April 9, 2013 |title=Bronx officials rally to save General Post Office |url=https://www.bxtimes.com/bronx-officials-rally-to-save-general-post-office/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=Bronx Times}} Serrano claimed that the sale disregarded many Bronx residents' desires for the building to not be sold.{{cite web |date=September 12, 2014 |title=Bronx General Post Office sold – Bronx Times |url=https://www.bxtimes.com/bronx-general-post-office-sold/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=Bronx Times}} Borough president Rubén Díaz Jr. expressed concerns that the General Post Office might be turned into self-storage space. Though Díaz's office supported the sale, Díaz himself wanted to wait for the "right kind of business" to buy the structure and contribute to the South Bronx's economy. Following a month-long public meeting process, the USPS decided in March 2013 to sell the building, prompting further objections. That June, the USPS determined that the objections to the sale were insufficient to prevent it from moving forward. Opponents appealed the decision, saying it was rushed, though the USPS moved to have the appeals dismissed.{{cite web |last=Maurer |first=Mark |date=July 23, 2013 |title=USPS pushes for sale of Bronx post office |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2013/07/23/usps-pushes-for-sale-of-bronx-post-office/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The Real Deal}} Opponents also protested outside the building and filed a lawsuit to halt the sale.{{cite web |last=Samtani |first=Hiten |date=September 20, 2013 |title=Bronx post office sale sparks protests, lawsuits |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2013/09/20/bronx-post-office-sale-sparks-protests-lawsuits/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The Real Deal}} Serrano proposed a clause in the congressional spending bill, which would prevent historic post office buildings from being sold until they were reviewed.{{cite web |last=Slattery |first=Denis |date=August 14, 2013 |title=Landmarks panel will hear bid to save Ben Shahn murals at the Bronx post office |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2013/08/14/landmarks-panel-will-hear-bid-to-save-ben-shahn-murals-at-the-bronx-post-office/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}} Though the clause was included in the final bill, Serrano expressed doubt that the USPS would follow through with such a review.

At the time the sale was announced, only the building's exterior was formally protected as a city landmark, leaving the building's interior vulnerable to modifications,{{cite news |last=Warshawer |first=Gabby |date=September 6, 2013 |title=Grand Concourse Tries to Mix New and Old; Art Deco, Moderne buildings dot tree-lined artery in the Bronx |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324886704579053070055963680.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |page= |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|1430564945}}}} though the USPS was considering enforcing a covenant that forced potential buyers to preserve the murals.{{cite web |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=August 21, 2013 |title=High on Landmark Panel's List: A Post Office Lobby |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/nyregion/high-on-landmark-panels-list-a-post-office-lobby-adorned-and-ennobling.html |access-date=November 17, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Community members and preservationists sought city-landmark designation for the interior as well;{{cite web |last=Samuels |first=Tanyanika |date=March 31, 2013 |title=As sale of Bronx General Post Office seems inevitable, there's a push to safeguard its 13 iconic murals |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2013/03/31/as-sale-of-bronx-general-post-office-seems-inevitable-theres-a-push-to-safeguard-its-13-iconic-murals/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}} the supporters of the designation included Shahn's son Jonathan, in addition to Serrano. The LPC eventually agreed to host a public hearing on designating the interiors, and the agency granted the building's interior landmark status on December 17, 2013.{{cite web |date=December 2013 |title=Shahn Murals in Bronx Post Office to be Saved |url=http://www.nylandmarks.org/advocacy/preservation_issues/working_to_save_important_bronx_wpa_murals |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918204118/http://www.nylandmarks.org/advocacy/preservation_issues/working_to_save_important_bronx_wpa_murals/ |archive-date=September 18, 2019 |access-date=June 9, 2015 |publisher=New York Landmarks Conservancy |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |author=The New York Times |date=December 18, 2013 |title=New Landmarks in the West Village and the Bronx |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/new-landmarks-in-the-west-village-and-the-bronx/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=City Room |issn=0362-4331}} The USPS received initial bids for the property the next month. Local elected officials favored the proposal submitted by one bidder, Youngwoo & Associates, who had suggested turning the building into a marketplace or shopping center.{{cite web |last=Maurer |first=Mark |date=February 5, 2014 |title=Youngwoo delivers plan to turn Bronx post office into market |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2014/02/05/youngwoo-delivers-plan-to-turn-bronx-post-office-into-market/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The Real Deal}} Youngwoo purchased the building in September 2014 for $19 million.{{cite web |last=Slattery |first=Denis |date=September 3, 2014 |title=Exclusive: Developer Youngwoo & Associates buys historic Bronx General Post Office building |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/09/03/exclusive-developer-youngwoo-associates-buys-historic-bronx-general-post-office-building/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=September 5, 2014 |title=United States Postal Service sells Bronx General Post Office building |url=https://hudsonvalley.news12.com/united-states-postal-service-sells-bronx-general-post-office-building-34829566 |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=News 12 – Default}}

Youngwoo submitted plans for the building to the New York City Department of Buildings in December 2014.{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Jaime |date=December 30, 2014 |title=Bronx GPO to have retail, restaurants – Bronx Times |url=https://www.bxtimes.com/bronx-gpo-to-have-retail-restaurants/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=Bronx Times}} Under Youngwoo's plan, the building would retain a small post office.{{cite web |last=Hughes |first=C. J. |date=November 26, 2014 |title=The Grand Concourse: Growing Signs of a Renewal |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/realestate/the-grand-concourse-growing-signs-of-a-renewal.html |access-date=November 19, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Because the building was a city landmark, the LPC had to approve any changes made to the building, so Youngwoo presented its plans to the LPC in January 2015. The next month, the LPC approved the redevelopment, which included retail space and postal services on the two lower floors, office space on the two upper floors, and a rooftop restaurant. The plan included restoration of the exterior and lobby, particularly the murals.{{cite web |date=February 12, 2015 |title=Landmarks OKs Youngwoo's conversion of Bronx post office |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2015/02/12/landmarks-approves-conversion-of-bronx-post-office/ |access-date=November 19, 2024 |website=The Real Deal}}

Youngwoo & Associates and its development partner Bristol Group hired Hollister Construction Services to renovate the Bronx General Post Office.{{cite web |last=Warerkar |first=Tanay |date=April 15, 2016 |title=The Bronx's Historic Post Office Nears Its Future As a Revamped Community Hub |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2016/4/15/11438836/bronx-post-office-transformation-restaurant-shops-construction-update |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=Curbed NY |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=March 17, 2016 |title=Transformation underway at historic Bronx post office |url=https://rew-online.com/transformation-underway-at-historic-bronx-post-office/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |work=Real Estate Weekly}} In addition, Studio V Architecture was hired as the architect. During the renovation, workers removed many pieces of postal equipment and interior finishes. Once the renovation was completed, Youngwoo planned to rebrand the building as Bronx Post Place.{{cite web |last=Beltran |first=Lizeth |date=January 11, 2019 |title=Historic post office building in South Bronx to get face-lift |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/historic-post-office-building-south-bronx-get-face-lift |access-date=January 1, 2025 |website=Crain's New York Business}} The redevelopment project encountered difficulties; the reopening date was postponed to 2017, then to 2018.{{cite web |last=Acitelli |first=Tom |date=February 12, 2019 |title=Bronx post office revamp finally poised to deliver, new owners say |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/who-owns-block/bronx-post-office-revamp-finally-poised-deliver-new-owners-say |access-date=November 19, 2024 |website=Crain's New York Business}} According to the urban planner Sam Goodman, the area's low median household income and the presence of the Bronx Terminal Market mall nearby meant that there was not much demand for the redevelopment to begin with.{{cite web |last=Moss |first=Jordan |date=August 30, 2024 |title=Hidden away for a decade, a beloved Jewish artist's mural awaits its return to the public eye |url=https://forward.com/culture/art/648825/ben-shahn-resources-of-america-mural-bronx-post-office/ |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=The Forward}}

By 2018, Youngwoo was looking to sell the building.{{cite web |last=Walker |first=Ameena |date=October 31, 2018 |title=Bronx's historic post office building, set for transformation, is for sale |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2018/10/31/18048702/bronx-post-office-for-sale |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=Curbed NY}} MHP Real Estate Services and Banyan Street Capital tentatively agreed to purchase the General Post Office Building in January 2019 for more than $70 million,{{cite web |title=Grand Concourse post office to be transformed into shopping, dining space |website=News 12 - Default |date=January 11, 2019 |url=https://bronx.news12.com/grand-concourse-post-office-to-be-transformed-into-shopping-dining-space-39771027 |access-date=December 31, 2024 |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=January 9, 2019 |title=MHP, Banyan Street Capital purchasing Bronx post office from Youngwoo |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2019/01/09/mhp-banyan-street-capital-purchasing-bronx-post-office-from-youngwoo/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=The Real Deal}} but the sale was canceled that July.{{cite web |last=Baird-Remba |first=Rebecca |date=July 17, 2019 |title=MHP, Banyan Street Capital Pull Out of $70M Bronx Post Office Purchase |url=https://commercialobserver.com/2019/07/mhp-real-estate-banyan-street-capital-not-buying-bronx-post-office/ |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=Commercial Observer}} A rooftop restaurant called Zona de Cuba opened atop the building that year,{{cite web |date=May 25, 2019 |title=1st rooftop restaurant Zona de Cuba opens in the Bronx |url=https://bronx.news12.com/1st-rooftop-restaurant-zona-de-cuba-opens-in-the-bronx-40534528 |access-date=November 15, 2024 |website=News 12 – Default |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=June 28, 2019 |title=A taste of Havana in the South Bronx at 'Zona de Cuba' |url=https://www.fox5ny.com/news/a-taste-of-havana-in-the-south-bronx-at-zona-de-cuba |access-date=November 15, 2024 |publisher=FOX 5 New York}} and there were also plans to lease space in the building to educational or retail tenants. In May 2024, the building was placed for sale again for about $70 million.{{cite magazine |last=Hughes |first=C. J. |date=May 20, 2024 |title=Art Deco post office in the Bronx hits market for $75M |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=6 |volume=40 |issue=20 |id={{ProQuest|3058835917}}}}{{cite web |last=Cryan |first=Elizabeth |title=Massive Bronx Post Office building back on market |website=The Real Deal |date=May 6, 2024 |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2024/05/06/landmarked-bronx-post-office-building-back-on-market/ |access-date=December 31, 2024}} By then, Zona de Cuba was the building's largest tenant with about {{Convert|15000|ft2}} of space, while the USPS had only {{Convert|10000|ft2}} of space. The murals, while hidden from public view, were still in good condition, since the building could not be sold unless the murals had been restored.

Both the Bronx General Post Office and its murals have been the subject of commentary over the years. When the structure was completed, Architectural Forum wrote that the building had successfully combined "a distinct modern influence and the continuing tradition of 'government classic'". In 1968, a writer from Artforum said that Shahn and Bryson had managed to create "outstanding murals" in the building, despite the Section of Painting and Sculpture's exacting requirements, but regarded the Whitman mural on the north wall as "the weakest of the panels compositionally". The New York Times wrote in 1995 that Shahn and Bryson's murals were "possibly the greatest publicly displayed art in the Bronx", having managed to survive at a time when the Bronx, government-funded artwork, and 1930s–era social realism had all fallen out of favor. Tablet magazine described the murals in 2013 as "a prominent example of federal support for the arts" in the 1930s.{{cite web |last=Schachar |first=Natalie |date=April 9, 2013 |title=Depression-Era Post Office Murals by Ben Shahn May Be Imperiled |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/depression-era-post-office-murals-imperiled |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=Tablet Magazine}}

• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in the Bronx
• National Register of Historic Places listings in the Bronx

Explanatory notes

{{Notelist}}

Inflation figures

{{notelist-lr}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite magazine |last=Baldwin |first=Carl R. |date=May–June 1977 |title=Shahn's Bronx P.O. Murals: The Perils of Public Art |magazine=Art in America |pages=15–19 |volume=15}}
• {{cite report |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002584.pdf |title=Bronx Central Annex-U.S. Post Office |date=May 6, 1980 |publisher=National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service |ref={{harvid|National Park Service|1980}}}}
• {{cite report |url=https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2552.pdf |title=Bronx General Post Office Lobby, First Floor Interior |date=December 17, 2013 |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |ref={{Harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2013}}}}
• {{cite magazine |date=June 1938 |title=U. S. Post Office Bronx, New York |url=https://usmodernist.org/AF/AF-1938-06.pdf |magazine=Architectural Forum |volume=68 |issue=6 |ref={{Harvid|Architectural Forum|1938}}}}

• {{Commons category-inline|United States Post Office (Bronx Central Annex)}}
• [http://www.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/arch/buildings/PostOffice.html Bronx General Post Office described at Lehman College Art Gallery]

{{National Register of Historic Places listings in the Bronx}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1937 establishments in New York City

Category:1930s architecture in the United States

Bronx Central Annex-U.S. Post Office

Category:Government buildings completed in 1937

Category:Government buildings in the Bronx

Category:National Register of Historic Places in the Bronx

Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in the Bronx

Category:New York City interior landmarks

Category:New York State Register of Historic Places in Bronx County