Closings

From crunchy kale at city farmers' markets to blue mailboxes on nearly every street corner, the little conveniences and public services Bostonians depend on will be scarcer but not impossible to come by, with a little know-how, during the week of the Democratic National Convention.

Residents can avoid hassles and wasted trips into the city by noting that many government offices, popular destinations, and local staples will be curtailed, relocated, and in some cases, canceled to accommodate the legions of visitors coming to Boston July 26-29.

In the eight-block area around the FleetCenter, where security will be tightest, about a dozen blue mailboxes will be removed July 22-July 31, and the 5 p.m. evening collection will be temporarily eliminated from about 300 boxes in ZIP codes 02108, 02113, 02114, 02115, 02116, and 02215, officials say.

Trash collection in Boston is expected to stay on the regular schedule, and city officials expect to increase cleanup near the FleetCenter.

Courthouses will stay open for restraining orders, injunctions, and other emergencies, but lawyers, jurors, and witnesses will be spared the commute into Boston, Cambridge, and Lowell for superior court trials, which will be canceled for the week.

Bankruptcy filers must use a temporary location set up in Moakley Federal Courthouse because US Bankruptcy Court will be closed to the public along with other federal offices in the Thomas P. O'Neill Federal Building on Causeway Street.

Passport offices in the building will close July 26-July 30; travelers should call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778. People with Social Security business should visit branch offices outside Boston. Log on to the Social Security Agency website at www.ssa.gov, or call 1-800-772-1213.

Laid-off workers filing unemployment insurance claims must skip the walk-in center in the Hurley Building on Staniford Street, which will be closed from 4 p.m. July 26-July 29. Claims can be filed in branch offices or by calling 1-877-626-6800.

Drivers seeking licenses must wait until after the convention; State Police are canceling all road tests to focus on convention security.

Those seeking hunting and fishing licenses must visit city and town halls or go online. The Department of Fish and Game is closing its window at 251 Causeway St. Environmental police in the building are cutting back their hours to 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. for new boat registrations.

Mental health patients should skip the outpatient clinic at Erich Lindemann Mental Health Center on Staniford Street, which will be closed for the week. The inpatient clinic will remain open.

The New England Aquarium and the Museum of Science will close early, at 3 p.m., July 26-July 29. The Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Children's Museum, Boston Public Library, and state Lottery offices plan to keep regular hours.

Shoppers in search of the usual farmers' markets on City Hall Plaza and Copley Square should visit the markets in Cambridge or Somerville; farmers plan to leave Boston to the protesters.

"Farmers have had to deal with worse," said Hannah Freedberg of the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets. "They'd rather have the DNC come for a week than have a major drought for a whole season."

Officials are still weighing whether to shut the State House and state office buildings for the week.