Skid Row's only post office has closed because of safety concerns

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Set us as preferred Skid Row’s only post office has closed after what officials said were repeated break-ins and damage to employee property.Homeless residents, many of whom don’t have a car or are disabled, now have to travel outside of Skid Row to get stamps or mail a package.The closure has prompted anger and frustration in a community that is used to being ignored.“Don’t desert us,” said Dwight Gaines, 65, who usually sleeps in an encampment across from the now-shuttered post office on 7th Street.

“People down here need services.”Estela Lopez, who represents about 500 businesses as executive director of the L.A.Downtown Industrial District Business Improvement District, said the city seems to have given up on fighting crime.“Have we reached a point in this city where we are unable to address criminal activity, even when it threatens the right of every resident to be served by the Postal Service?” she said.

“[Criminals have] already claimed the street lights, fire hydrants.They have wreaked havoc on city infrastructure, and now taken away the right to postal services.

… It’s surrender.We are surrendering in Los Angeles.”The 7th Street post office near the center of Skid Row was on a list of locations being reviewed for “efficiency and financial feasibility,” Natashi Garvins, U.S.

Postal Service strategic communications specialist for the Los Angeles area, said in an email.The post office, which was on the list because of “criminal and unsafe activities,” closed in January.“Multiple break-ins incurring damage to the facility — most recently in late January 2026 — along with damage to employees’ personal property, prompted an expedited closure due to the safety risks to people and property at the location,” Garvins said.

The Skid Row post office opened in the 1990s, Garvins said, and served 364 P.O.boxes.

Those with P.O.boxes have been redirected to a post offi...