The post office located in the Massachusetts State House has recently come in danger of being shut down. The location serves many entities besides the State House including Suffolk students, the McCormack Building, local businesses, and the surrounding neighborhood. The State House location is just one of many possible locations that are in danger of being closed as the United States Postal Serivce continues to downsize.
The demise of the State House post office would create considerable convenience issues as the next closest one is at least a half mile away. News of the closing has set off an unfavorable reaction as local residents have petitioned their Congressman to keep the location open. And the news is not sitting well with one Suffolk student. Danny Nucci, a Suffolk senior majoring in American History, was not very pleased with the situation. “Where am I going to buy my stamps? This creates a giant hassle also if I have to send out anything, say for instance, a book that I have sold on Amazon.”
Most of the post offices being shut down in Massachusetts are located in urban areas. 3,653 local offices, branches and stations were studied by the postal service. 43 of those offices were located in Massachusetts. Of the 43, five locations in Boston were designated for a possible shut down. The locations in Boston on the chopping block include offices in Dorchester neighborhoods of Uphams Corner and Grove Hall, MIT’s branch in Cambridge, and locations at Boston College and Tufts University. The potential closing of the office in the State House comes because of the expense of having a location for just one building.
In a prepared statement dated July of this year Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe explained why so many locations are being closed. “Today, more than 35 percent of the Postal Service’s retail revenue comes from expanded access locations such as drug stores, office supply stores, retail chains, self-service kiosks, ATMS and usps.com, open 24/7. Our customer’s habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business.”
Many of the locations will be replaced by Village Post offices where postal services will be offered in local stores, libraries and government offices. Donahue went on to explain in his statement that the impact these new locations will have. “By working with third-party retailers, we’re creating easier, more convenient access to our products and services when and where customers want them. The Village Post Office will offer another way for us to meet our customer’s needs.”
It is not guaranteed that if a post office comes under review that it will be immediately shut down. In January, the USPS announced it was reviewing 1,400 offices to be closed. Of those, 280 were shut down and 200 remained open. When an office is selected for review, the people served by that office have 60 days to file their comments. If the office is closed, the decision will be able to be appealed to the independent Postal Regulatory Commission.
Most of the sales within the post office with the selling of stamps, which officials say can easily be transferred to the new Village Post Offices. But that still does not quell everyone’s concerns, including Nucci. “Like I said, where am I going to buy my stamps now?”