Ridgewood NJ, Readers report scratches on their stoops and pavers this winter .An investigation has determined the postal workers are wearing spikes on their shoes for better grip against the elements . The spikes have been authorized by the Ridgewood Post Office to ensure worker safety . Several residents have reached out to the blog and reported this issue . While we are glad the Postal Service is taking steps to ensure worker safety , the spikes seem to be having and adverse effect on stone pavers and other stone walk ways which may case additional hazards in the future .Perhaps a softer rubber spike required on many golf courses may be the answer . We do not want anything done that will jeopardize safety .
ETCHED IN STONE : THE STORY BEHIND POSTAL SERVICE’S UNOFFICIAL MOTTO
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers
from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
The Postal Service has no official motto. The popular belief that it does is a tribute to America’s postal workers. The words above, thought by many to be the motto, are chiseled in gray granite over the entrance to the New York City Post Office on 8th Avenue. In 1982, the building was renamed the James A. Farley Post Office Building in honor of the 53rd Postmaster General.
The motto comes from Book 8, Paragraph 98, of The Persian Wars by Herodotus. During the wars between the Greeks and Persians (500-449 B.C.), the Persians used a system of mounted couriers.
The firm of McKim, Mead and White designed the New York General Post Office, which opened to the public on Labor Day, 1914. One of the firm’s architects, William Mitchell Kendall, was the son of a classics scholar and read Greek literature for pleasure. He selected the “Neither snow nor rain …” inscription, which he modified from a translation by Professor George Herbert Palmer of Harvard University, and the Post Office Department approved it.
James – thanks for posting.
The new slate steps on my stoop are ruined.
If it can be proven that the wearing of these shoes or boots are causing damage to property is the postal system going to pay?
Classic Ridgewood ……..who’s gonna pay…….