Residents in Chinatown are dismayed over the planned closure of a post office that has served the Los Angeles community for decades.
Peter Kwong opened the neighborhood post office just north of downtown Los Angeles about 20 years ago. The location is what’s known as a Contract Postal Unit (CPU), which are contracted by the U.S. Postal Service to serve communities and offer postal products and services.
The small post office on Hill Street has done that and more over the past two decades, becoming a place that feels like family to residents who fear multiple language barriers if they’re forced to visit another post office.
“I mean, the service, the staff is so wonderful, and the fact that there’s never a line is incredible,” said resident Matthew Wilson.
Other residents said the post office is within walking distance from homes and part of what makes Chinatown, Chinatown.
“This post office is really important to the Chinese community because we don’t speak English that much, and we need the post office that speaks Chinese,” said Guy Yeav.
Kwong said he recently received a letter from the U.S. Postal Service that indicated it was ending the contract as part of nationwide cost cuts and reductions in CPUs. Kwong said he pays for staffing and operates the business at a loss.
For Kwong, the service is a promise he made to his father.
“I gave my word to my father, who’s now passed away, that I would do something for the community,” Kwong said. “And if you shut us down, where are these 25,000 people going to go? We’re one of the last services left. We have no more supermarket. We have no more hospital.”
NBCLA reached out to the U.S. Postal Service for comment, but did not hear back Tuesday afternoon. The agency has said with other closures that here are nearby post offices. The closest one to Chinatown is just under a mile to the south next to Union Station.