Amalgamated Bank To Open On 21st Street
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

City Councilmember Eric Gioia, center, recently joined in a march in the Queensbridge section of Long Island City that voiced the need for a bank in that community.

A full-service branch of the Amalgamated Bank, complete with 24-hour ATM service, a drive-thru window, and parking for 15 cars, is coming to 21st Street and 36th Avenue in Long Island City as part of an effort to encourage economic development and provide financial services in under banked areas of the city.

"Right now, there's very little in the way of banking services up and down 21st Street," Derrick D. Cephas, president and chief executive officer of Amalgamated Bank said at the July meeting of the Queens Borough Board, which met in combination with the Borough Cabinet July 10.

The board unanimously approved an application by Amalgamated to the New York State Banking Department for a special Banking Development District in the area bounded on the north by Broadway, on the east by 31st Street,. on the south by Queens Plaza North and on the west by Vernon Boulevard.

"We look forward to the bank coming," said the Reverend Mitchell Taylor of the East River Development Alliance. "We have championed this for a long time. I've been here over 40 years and all we've got is check cashing stores and a liquor store." Taylor stressed a need for financial literacy in the community.

"Our constituency, Rev. Taylor, is your exact constituency," Cephas said. Founded in 1923 by members of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, the bank today has $4 billion in assets. Amalgamated has 12 branches, nine in New York City (one in Flushing). The proposed branch at 36-16 21st St. will replace a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in a corner building.

Cephas said the Long Island City branch, which should be open in early 2007, will continue the historic mission of Amalgamated Bank to provide financial services for working class people. Home mortgages, home equity loans and programs for debt management and first-time buyers of homes will all be available. In addition, a shuttle bus service for senior citizens who may have trouble getting to and from the bank will be in operation.

"Amalgamated Bank has a tremendous history in community banking," said City Councilmember David Weprin, speaking in favor of the resolution for the banking district.

Under state law, a banking development district assures some deposit of state and city monies in the development district bank. Real estate tax abatements for the property are also included. The establishment of a development district does not prohibit any other bank from making such an application in Queens. Currently, there is another banking development district in Corona Heights.

Although Queensbridge Houses encompasses a large swath of the Long Island City banking development district, a rezoning of 37 blocks in the area by the Department of City Planning in 2001 allowed for larger and more upscale residential and commercial developments has spurred a number of changes. For example, after the rezoning, MetLife renovated a former factory building between 27th and 28th Streets on Queens Plaza North, moving 900 employees from Manhattan. A 10-story condo with 66 units will soon open on 27th Street between 41st Avenue and Queens Plaza North, and its developers are planning another on Crescent Street. Recently, Congress approved $10.6 billion to beautify the area and a developer announced plans to convert an infamous "hot sheet" motel into a luxury hotel. Finally, from May 2005 to May 2006, the number of residential sales that closed in Long Island City, Astoria and Sunnyside rose by more than 62 percent. That is the largest increase for any part of the borough by a margin of almost 50 percent, according to the Long Island Multiple Listing Service.