Allston residents have gone without a neighborhood post office for nearly seven years, and now the U.S. Postal Service has launched a formal study that could make that absence permanent. Boston elected officials are criticizing USPS for abandoning earlier plans to reestablish a branch in the neighborhood, arguing the federal agency is failing a community that includes older adults, immigrants, and small business owners who rely on its services.
USPS closed its only Allston location at 47 Harvard Avenue in 2019 due to structural issues with the building, according to The Boston Globe. The agency said at the time that retail operations and Post Office Box services were being suspended effective the close of business on December 13, 2019, and that repairs had no set timeline, per a notice from USPS. The neighborhood has largely gone without service since, with the closest alternative located on Washington Street in Brighton Center, as reported by MassLive.
A Reversal After Years of Waiting
Residents and elected officials spent years advocating for a replacement branch, and in June 2025 USPS agreed, deciding to reopen the Allston post office at a new location as close as reasonably possible to the old one and to reestablish long-term retail operations while improving service. The agency had backed relocating into a proposed development at 25-39 Harvard Avenue from Eden Properties, which purchased the old post office site in 2021 and said it worked with USPS to design the ground floor specifically for a new post office space.
Eden Properties said it had a fully negotiated lease with construction plans in place for USPS, according to the same Boston Globe reporting. USPS later backed out of the plan. Noah Maslan of Eden Properties said the company spent more time working on USPS as a prospective tenant than on any other tenant it has dealt with. Liz Breadon received an email in April 2026 related to USPS reconsidering the branch.
A Financial Crisis Looms Over the Decision
Federal officials have warned that USPS could run out of money by February 2027, as the agency faces a severe financial crisis. USPS has since sent letters to Allston residents saying it intends to permanently close the branch, though the agency has not finalized that decision and says it is collecting public feedback while evaluating customer needs and studying the feasibility of ending in-person retail service there.
Per Brighton Main Streets, USPS began a formal discontinuation study around September 13 that could lead to the permanent closure, though the agency has not made a final determination. The study is expected to take at least 210 days, meaning completion is not expected before April 2027, and USPS representatives said it will weigh community feedback, customer needs, impacts on employees, postal operations, and finances. The same account notes that access concerns have been raised for residents without cars and those with mobility challenges. A USPS representative said the study was not a final determination and would involve community feedback.
Officials and Residents Push Back
Boston elected representatives said the proposed closure reflects a broader trend of post office closures around the state and inadequate mail service. Senator Ed Markey and other officials urged USPS to reopen an Allston post office. City Councilor Liz Breadon expressed frustration with the reversal and advocated for an Allston post office. Markey, Warren, and Pressley sent a letter urging USPS to reopen an Allston post office.
Residents opposed the proposed permanent closure at a USPS virtual meeting, raising concerns about wait times at the Brighton branch. The burden has fallen especially hard on seniors, people with disabilities, families with small children, and immigrants, according to Bulletin Newspapers, which quoted concerns that these residents are being discriminated against. As The Harvard Crimson has reported, the closure created incredibly long lines at the Brighton Center post office for residents forced to travel there.
USPS Has Missed a City Hearing
USPS representatives did not attend a city hearing the prior year. Estimates of how many people the Brighton post office now serves vary: Breadon has cited a figure of about 87,000 Allston and Brighton residents dependent on that single branch, while the Crimson reported a separate estimate of roughly 77,000 residents served by the same office. By comparison, Breadon has pointed to Newton, a city with roughly 88,000 residents that maintains 12 post office locations, according to Bulletin Newspapers reporting on the Allston case.
Community members have consistently cited long wait times and difficulty traveling to other branches as core concerns, according to The Daily Free Press. With the discontinuation study now underway and a decision not expected before next spring, Allston residents and their elected representatives are left to keep pressing an agency that has shown little willingness to engage publicly on the matter.
