Elected officials, community leaders, and neighbors rallied together in Allston on October 5 in response to news that the United States Postal Service will not redevelop the neighborhood’s post office on Harvard Avenue.
Since its closure in December 2019 due to structural issues, Allstonians have been without a neighborhood post office for nearly seven years. While Eden Properties had been coordinating with the USPS on a reconstruction, it was announced in April 2026 that they would not be moving forward with their plan.
“It was an unexpected reversal after several years of work and after what we understood to be a clear commitment to restore service,” said Noah Maslan, the principal of Eden Properties.
The rally and press conference took place on 25-39 Harvard Avenue, adjacent to the site of where the new post office would have been built. Despite it being a windy Monday afternoon, many rally-goers attended, holding printed or handmade protest signs, some reading, “Put a stamp on it and deliver Allston’s post office!” or “USPS is a service, not a business.”
Neighbors from beyond Allston also came to show their support. Deborah Chivers, who lives in Brighton, participated in the rally in solidarity with her friends in Allston.
“They have been promised that it would reopen at a certain amount of time and that keeps getting delayed, and now just recently they find out that the USPS is backing out,” Chivers said. “It’s really leaving a community in the lurch, which is a horrible thing to do.”
With no certain plan for the future of an Allston post office, residents are left to travel out to post offices in other neighborhoods.
“If the Allston post office fails to open, all 87,000 residents of Allston Brighton will be served by only one post office,” said Boston City Councilor Liz Breadon in her kick-off speech. “Our seniors, our immigrant community, small businesses, and other residents deserve access to these important services.”
“I’ve lived here almost seven years and have constantly had to go to Brookline or Brighton or somewhere else to use the post office,” said 28-year-old Sam Finston, who lives on Commonwealth Avenue. “Right when we were finally about to get a new one, USPS changing their mind made me really mad.”
Following Breadon, Mayor Michelle Wu made it clear that Allston is not the only neighborhood facing this problem in Boston.
“On top of it all, USPS just gave our Dorchester residents less than a month’s notice that they plan to ‘temporarily’ close their Field Corner branch on Oct. 26,” Wu said. “They gave no clear timeline there on when that branch will reopen either.”
“I think this year has been big in testing the Allston Brighton community because we had a similar rally for the community center and it’s nice seeing that so many people are involved enough for there to be a rally,” said Finston.
The office of Breadon is encouraging people to sign their petition that they have posted on their website and social media page. People can also email their comments to AllstonPostOffice@boston.gov.
“A post office is not a luxury,” Breadon said. “It is an essential piece of infrastructure.”
This story is part of a partnership between Allstonia and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom program.
