Eden Properties, the developer behind 29-35 Harvard Ave. in Allston – https://gvimes.link/allstonpost – sent out a statement last week saying the United States Postal Service (USPS) is backing out of an agreement to put in a new retail service branch in the development.

The full announcement, which can be found at – https://gvimes.link/edenpost – quotes Eden Properties’ Noah Masian saying, “This is a disappointing and unexpected reversal, particularly given the Postal Service’s prior commitment to the community.”

Some residents may see that as an understatement.

The site is that of the former Allston Post Office, which was declared structurally unsound in 2019 when a tree’s roots adjacent to the building began infiltrating the building’s foundation. Allston has, with small temporary exceptions, been without a post office since then.

Residents now have to hoof it to the Brighton Post Office, which they say is constantly jammed with an influx of new customers, or go to another, further location. Allston Civic Association President Tony D’Isidoro said that this is unacceptable, as it creates problems for the most vulnerable populations in the neighborhood.

“Think about seniors, people with disabilities, families with small children, immigrants who use the post office a lot for packages back home or their passports – these people are being discriminated against,” he said. “I hate to use that word.”

District 9 City Councilor Liz Breadon appeared frustrated at the announcement.

“Even though they had a letter last year saying (USPS) was proceeding with a retail post office in Allston, this has been a complete reversal from the position they had last year,” she said. “I’m pretty frustrated, because the post office closed in 2019 not because it was underutilized, but because the building was structurally unsound and in danger. They said, ‘You can’t use this,’ and closed the door and walked away. We’ve been working pretty diligently with them, and from all accounts the Post Office works really slowly. But we really felt we made some headway with this commitment last year.”

Breadon pointed out that the Allston and Brighton neighborhoods that make up her district have a population of about 87,000 residents. She said Newton, which has a population of about 88,000 residents, has 12 post offices, while District 9 only has the Brighton location now.

“I still don’t understand the rationale,” she said. “Go figure. I just don’t get it at all.”

D’Isidoro said he felt like this was a one-two punch for the district, as a few weeks ago the City of Boston announced, at best, more delays for the rehabilitation of the Boston Centers for Youth and Families Jackson Mann Community Center, which was also deemed structurally unsound in 2018, a year before the 2019 post office closure.

D’Isidoro pointed out that the decision might be tied to the current political climate in the federal government.

“Could this be a Blue city, Blue state thing, where the federal administration is continuing its assault on states and municipalities who don’t like the president and don’t work with him?” he asked. “I have no way of checking, but it seems like the days of ‘one ZIP code is entitled to a post office’ seem to be coming to an end.”

Breadon’s office shared the address of Benjamin P. Kuo, the Senior Vice President of Facilities and Infrastructure, for residents to send physical letters – perhaps an ironic twist – to complain and try to reverse USPS’ decision:

Benjamin Kuo, Senior Vice President, Facilities and Infrastructure

Office of the Consumer Advocate

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USPS – Headquarters

475 L'Enfant Plaza SW

Washington, DC 20260

Kuo’s email address is not readily available, but the email convention of the USPS implies that his government email is likely Benjamin.P.Kuo@usps.gov

D’Isidoro said he feels that the city government should have been trying to force the USPS to play the field and look at multiple locations.

“We could have had a Plan B, kept our eyes on the market and if we saw an affordable storefront opening up that the USPS likes, maybe we could have done something quicker,” he said. “Nobody was interested in that, no one was interested in taking the gamble, the leap of faith. They said, ‘Oh don’t worry Tony, this will work out,’ but again, my biggest fear is that we are a certain period of time without and then going through a construction project and now this site is out. And we’re how many years behind? And now it looks like there won’t be a future post office in Allston.”

D’Isidoro said he feels that neighborhood activism has to get more intense.

“We need to start showing some resolve ourselves,” he said. “We need to come together, and the most important thing is we need people to get off their couches and at a very minimum, vote and show you care about the future of this community, because honestly, I don’t think we scare anybody as a voting block.”

Perhaps the only glimmer of hope here, according to Breadon, is that the USPS may not be aware of what it’s doing.

“It seems like one leg doesn’t know what the other leg is doing, and it seems like they’re not communicating with each other,” she said. “They’re contradicting correspondence from last year, and they don’t seem aware that the correspondence was sent out last year.”

This is backed up a bit by the USPS’ response to repeated inquiries from The Bulletin, starting when the news broke last week. A spokesperson wrote on Monday, “We are looking into this. Many thanks for your patience.”