Liftoff

At 2am this morning all 208 envelopes (I'll explain how I got to that number as I go along) were hand-delivered to the James A. Farley post office in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. As the main post office of the region it is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The letters were handed to a supervisor who promised to load them on a truck bound for the international mail sorting facility at John F Kennedy International Airport.

Since the letters were immediately sent to the international sorting facility it is safe to say that at least two days were shaved off the letters' transit time. Had the letters been mailed from Brooklyn they would have sat in the Mailbox until Monday and then would still have to undergo sorting which means they would probably end up at the JFK international mail sorting facility sometime Tuesday or Wednesday.

I attempted to lay out the letters on a table in the post office so that I could photograph them in all their glory. However, I was quickly approached by the postal police and that plan was quickly aborted. Instead I had to settle for photographing the letters as they sat on the postal counter. It may not seem like it but sitting on the counter are all 208 letters.