What’s that giant cabinet thing partially shrink-wrapped? It’s the end of an era.

According to the letter we received today with a return address of 1200 William Street, that giant machine is a delivery bar code sorter (DBCS) and this is what it does:

After nearly 200 years of US mail processing in Buffalo, the main Post Office on William is beginning to shut down and dismantle its machinery. Local mail processing will now take place in Rochester, meaning any letters sent from Buffalo to Amherst, for example, will probably take a day longer to reach its destination. 

The move represents a minor inconvenience to some, a money-costing delay for many small businesses, and life-changing shift for the hundreds of people employed in steady jobs on William Street.