Dyker Heights Post Office Officially Renamed After Mother Cabrini, by Erin DeGregorio

The United States Postal Service (USPS), local delegates, and community leaders venerated Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini by renaming the Dyker Heights Post Office in her honor. The virtual press conference took place on the anniversary of her death, Dec. 22, 2020.

Mother Cabrini and her seven Sisters arrived in New York in 1889, helping Italian immigrants who were struggling with poverty in Lower Manhattan. During her lifetime, she established 67 schools, orphanages, and hospitals around the world. Mother Cabrini was the first American citizen to be canonized a saint in 1946, and was named the patron saint of immigrants in 1950.

“We believe Mother Cabrini embodies the spirit of the postal service in so many ways,” said USPS Strategic Communications Specialist Amy Gibbs. “She served the public with equal opportunity. She did not discriminate, was resourceful, and proud — much like our organization today.”

Legislation to designate the building as the “Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini Post Office Building” was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Dec. 3, 2020. Representative Max Rose first introduced the bipartisan legislation in the United States House of Representatives on Oct. 22, 2019.

This action was taken following the controversial results of the She Built NYC public arts campaign, launched by Former Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen and First Lady Chirlane McCray in 2018. The campaign was initiated to honor women through the installation of monuments that recognize and celebrate their historic impacts on and contributions to New York City, after research showed that only five out of the City’s 150 statues of historic figures depict women.

More than 2,000 nominations for over 320 women were collected — with Mother Cabrini receiving 219 votes. Though the saint garnered the most votes, she was not announced as one of the four women who would have monuments built across the City. State Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Diocese of Brooklyn later announced that they would each build a statue in Mother Cabrini’s honor. The New York State-funded statue was unveiled in Battery Park on Oct. 12, 2020.

“From looking out for the poor to helping immigrant families, Mother Cabrini exemplified the values that make New York City the greatest city in the world,” said Congressman Max Rose, who filed his candidacy for the upcoming mayoral race in December 2020. “Renaming the Dyker Heights Post Office in her honor is another part of ensuring her legacy and memory forever lives on. I was proud to work with my colleagues across New York to make this happen.”

The post office operates on 13th Avenue in Dyker Heights — an area that saw a lot of Italian immigration beginning in the 1940s.

“When you rename something or you create a statue, you’re putting something out there for people to question. Someone who walks by and says, ‘Oh it’s the Mother Cabrini Post Office,’ at some point has to turn around and say, ‘Well, why?’” John L. Heyer II, pastoral associate at Sacred Hearts & St. Stephen Parish, said last year when the Red Hook Star-Revue first reported the proposal.

“In that ‘why’ is the real reason you do it. So that people learn about how a woman — who was by herself as an immigrant and didn’t know the language — became a citizen, helped others on that path, and helped those who were poor and ill, just like herself.”

Post offices are renamed after nationally recognized individuals, hometown heroes, and those who have made an impact on the local community. More than 85 facilities in New York State have been renamed since 1986, including at least 25 located throughout New York City. For instance, there is the Shirley Chisholm Post Office in Bedford–Stuyvesant and the Jeanne and Jules Manford Post Office in Jackson Heights. Shirley Chisholm was a “powerhouse in politics,” according to USPS Triboro District Manager Eric Henry, as she was the first African American woman to serve in Congress. In the 1970s, Jeanne and Jules Manford founded the country’s first support group for parents of lesbian and gay children.

“Now, Mother Cabrini — a hero to immigrants — joins those who have made an impact so large in the history books that we are dedicating a post office to her,” Henry said.

Monsignor Thomas Caserta, pastor of the Shrine Church of St. Bernadette, also spoke about Mother Cabrini’s legacy.

“This honor given to the first American citizen to be canonized as a saint reminds us all to do what we can to step out of our own comfort zones and recognize the dignity and worth of every person regardless of race, ethnicity, or religious tradition,” he said. “Mother Cabrini’s example is needed now more than ever, I think, as we all live through a dark and challenging time.”

The press conference was a precursor to an official plaque unveiling ceremony that will take place in 2021. The Dyker Heights Post Office, which houses 55 employees, delivers nearly 35,000 letters and packages every day across its 21 delivery routes.