Late Show flubs ZIP for flood relief

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Lamendola

David Letterman devoted a segment of his “Late Show” on CBS Monday night to a pitch for help for the Schoharie flood victims, but there was a little glitch.

The Schoharie Recovery Fund mailing address posted on screen had an incorrect ZIP code.

The show listed the ZIP code as 11257, which is a Brooklyn ZIP code. The Schoharie ZIP code is 12157.

The full address is Schoharie Recovery Fund, P.O. Box 111, Schoharie, NY 12157.

Maureen Marion of the U.S. Postal Service said she is aware of the error and is working to correct it as quickly as possible. She said the postal service will collect any mail heading to Brooklyn addressed to the Schoharie Relief Fund and redirect it to Schoharie.

Marion said the postal service will also ask Letterman to rerun the promo with the correct ZIP. “We are trying to contact Letterman’s office to see if we can be helpful,” she said.

Tracy McGuinness, a volunteer in the Schoharie Village Office, said that Mayor John Borst will also contact Letterman’s office and seek a correction.

“I don’t know at this point if it has caused any problems. The village only has 400 homes, and a lot use street address and their home numbers. Few use post office boxes,” she said. “As long as the mail comes to Schoharie, it will get to the right P.O. box.”

Letterman made a plea for the devastated community during Monday night’s show. Contributions to the fund are desperately needed in Schoharie, where an inordinate number of homes were severely damaged during Tropical Storm Irene.

Letterman noted that while Hurricane Irene had largely left New York City unscathed, the storm caused substantial damage once it hit upstate New York and New England. He talked about Schoharie after his monologue, fondly recounting how the show highlighted the tiny community in 2002.

While serious, Letterman’s flood pitch did include a few moments of levity. After describing how flood waters rose four to eight feet in most of the village, Letterman suggested that if he were on the town council, “I guess we won’t have to raise money for the new pool.”

Letterman listed three charities: the Schoharie Recovery Fund, the Schoharie Community Action Program and Habitat for Humanity.