It’s been seven years since the post office in Allston shut down. And now the U.S. Postal Service says it’s not coming back.
“It closed in 2019 due to structural issues with the building, and we were told that the service was suspended but only temporarily,” Boston City Councilor Liz Breadon said at a press conference Monday in a parking lot next to the building where the post office once was.
Community members have been advocating for the return of the Allston post office, and in 2025, it appeared they’d get their wish when USPS announced plans to lease space in the renovated building.
Last week, the postal service announced it would instead permanently close the location.
“Now USPS has reversed this decision and broken its promise to the Allston community,” Breadon said, to boos and calls of “shame!” from the crowd.
The Allston neighborhood is home to roughly 30,000 residents who rely on the post office, Breadon said.
“Newton, which is about the same population, has 10 post offices,” she said. “What’s wrong with that picture?”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called the closure plan “unacceptable.”
“That decision would place a huge burden on our small business owners who need to ship orders and handle returns, on our older residents and non-native English speakers who need in-person trips to navigate forms and applications and other services, and every resident who’s had to put up with longer waits and farther trips because our other post offices are under extra pressure as well,” Wu said.
Wu said her office has sent a formal request to Postmaster General David Steiner and the USPS district manager to meet with city officials and residents who would be impacted by the closure of the Allston location.
The postal service has also announced a temporary closure of the Field’s Corner location, raising concerns that it, too, will never be reopened.
“We see this is a very slippery slope because they’re trying to bring this same pain to Dorchester,” Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said at Monday’s press conference. “While this injustice has gone on for too long, we refuse to accept it as an inevitability and let it be quietly swept under the rug.”
Pressley said the closures are part of a larger plan by the Trump administration to privatize the postal service.
“The services provided by USPS are a public good and should not be left to billionaires and for-profit private corporations to play games with,” Pressley said. “Today, I’m proud to stand with Allston and everyone here calling for the Postal Service to keep their word to this community.”
The US Postal Service provided GBH News with a written statement in response.
“The Postal Service has complied with, and is currently complying with, applicable official regulations with regard to locations being studied for potential permanent closure,” the statement reads. “This includes regulations related to discontinuance study actions. Final decisions are subject to review by the Postal Regulatory Commission.”
The statement notes that USPS will accept input on the Allston closure until Oct. 11.
The criticism of USPS at Monday’s press event extended outside Boston city limits. The post office in downtown Watertown was closed in 2024 and has not reopened, said Watertown Council President Mark Sideris.
“In a time when public trust in local, state, and federal government is lower than it has ever been, the postal service’s continued silence to our request to meet and find solutions together speaks volumes,” Sideris said. “If the USPS cared about ensuring equitable uninterrupted service for their customers, we would see a post office in both Watertown Square and in Allston.”
