Senator Chuck Schumer was in Middletown Wednesday to discuss the future of the Postal Service in the Hudson Valley amid the growing national postal crisis.

Schumer said that the post office is needed more than ever during a pandemic. He said medications needed to be delivered on time and people who don’t want to go to the store need to be able to rely on the post office, especially with more people expecting to vote by mail this November.

Postmaster Louis DeJoy announced Tuesday that he would suspend operational changes until after the 2020 election but Schumer wants to know if that includes reversing changes already made – because those changes alone, he says, have already slowed down mail service.

“This is a bipartisan issue. There are Democrats and Republicans who want to keep the post office,” Schumer said. “This is about our seniors; those with pre-existing conditions. It’s about our veterans and it’s about out elections.”

Schumer also said that Postal Service operations employ over 5,000 people throughout the Hudson Valley.