mobanmarketROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Rep. Mike Lawler is beginning a drive to have the Haverstraw village post office named after former Rockland County Clerk Paul Piperato.
Lawler made the announcement Wednesday at a news conference outside the post office where he was joined by family members, local officials, politicians, and friends of Piperato, who died in 2020.
He died suddenly, early in the pandemic, Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco recalled. Because of the lockdown, instead of a service, Falco and others organized a procession — and over the course of that day 700 vehicles passed the Piperatos’ home in Thiells, he said. “It made those of us who were his friends very, very proud.”
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Falco and Piperato were friends since childhood. “He touched so many lives,” Falco said, enumerating some of the many community and civic activities with which Piperato was involved.
The idea to rename the post office came from Donna Silberman, Piperato’s deputy and then successor, Lawler said. “She reached out to me a while back about doing this. As a member of Congress, this is one of the perks.”
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Silberman said she had thought of it right away. “Paul was a community guy, he was everybody’s go-to guy,” she said. “He’s sorely missed.”
Falco said he looked forward to the time people could say Piperato had a county park, state highway and federal building named after him.
The process, Lawler said, is first to get the members of the New York congressional delegation to agree. Once that happens, he will propose a bill and work to have it taken up by the House of Representatives. “I’m happy to introduce it and fight for its passage so we can be back here” for a dedication ceremony.
His daughter Danielle said her father loved Rockland County. “He would have appreciated everyone’s kind words.”
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Why the post office in the village, when Piperato lived in Thiells?
It’s the busiest post office in Rockland County. Plus, “Paul was all about Haverstraw,” said Town Supervisor Howard Phillips.
Before being elected County Clerk, Piperato served on the town council and on a variety of town commissions and committees. He was an active member in a host of northern Rockland organizations.
“He spent many a Saturday morning at the Stone Soup Cafe talking with the ‘intelligentsia’ about all things Haverstraw,” said Mayor Michael Kohut.
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