Procrastination usually doesn't win out, but thank goodness for a USPS office open until 7pm on Sundays, even during the holiday season! In fact, the only station in the city open on Sundays and a lifesaver for those who started writing holiday cards on the Friday before Christmas. Peering into the "envelopes" mail slot, thousands of pieces of mail were visibly overflowing the sacks, requiring some gingerly wedging of my small booklet-worth of correspondence in between others. Fingers crossed all made it out ok! Shoutout to one of two staff working the two open counters at 5pm on Sunday December 21, you were friendly, prompt and helpful and put your best foot forward for terrific customer service. Only 2 counters were open and the line was about a dozen people long, steadily moving. For service--a solid 5 stars. Facilities are as expected a bit on the older side, being built in 1912 as part of the original Penn Station complex, though the modern conveniences of tap-to-pay technology and self-service weigh/postage stations are available. Waiting in line, the details on the ceiling caught my attention. Maybe because the darker evening outside accentuated the brighter interior, the simultaneously ornamental, scrolling flourishes fitted in repeating geometric patterns stood out in ways I hadn't noticed before. Come to find after some googling the ceiling is decorated with the country seals of 11 countries including the US, the countries part of the universal postal union at the time of construction, an administrative body now under the purview of the United Nations that handles international shipping policies. Not very fun facts: designated a national historic landmark in 1973 and re-named after James Farley, 53rd U.S. Postmaster General in 1982. Previously generically named the General Post Office. Slightly more fun fact: atop the facade along 8th Avenue the inscription reads, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Some may confuse this to be the creed of the U.S. Postal Service, but it's actually not. Rather, it's tied to the tribute that building architect William Mitchell Kendall paid to major historical figures credited with postal advancements. This is an excerpt out of Herodotus's 'Histories', which described the messenger system established in Persia by Cyrus the Great. read more