Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz sent a letter to Ridgewood Savings Bank
pleading with them to stay open. Courtesy of Facebook
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 24 UNE 18-24, 2021 BTR
votación anticipada
del 12 al 20 de junio
el día de las elecciones
22 de junio
Aprenda más sobre como
Votar por Orden de Preferencia:
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BY JASON COHEN
After Chase Bank at the
Knolls Crescent shopping
center and Capitol One Bank
on Riverdale Avenue shuttered,
it seems the trend of
financial institutions closing
in the northwest Bronx
is continuing.
It was recently announced
that two more banks will be
shuttering their doors in the
community, Ridgewood Savings
Bank on Sedgwick Avenue
and Van Cortlandt Avenue
West as well as on Jerome
Avenue and West Mosholu
Parkway North. It is anticipated
to close in October.
However, Assemblyman
Jeffrey Dinowitz has taken
notice and feels banks are
needed in his district. There
is a high senior population,
including many who do not
drive or adpet with mobile
banking. Furthermore, the
next closest branch will be
located on West 204th Street,
which is a lengthy distance
from their customers who
live in Van Cortlandt Village
and Kingsbridge Heights –
with a 94-acre reservoir and
a busy parkway in between
people and their bank.
The lawmaker understands
that bank closures
have become a nationwide
trend and it has affected
other parts of the Bronx as
well, but is quite upset. He
expressed frustration with
the situation and pleaded for
the banks to remain open in
a letter to the president of
Ridgewood Savings Bank.
“I can appreciate that you
are a private institution that
is obligated to make operational
decisions that are in
the interest of your company
overall, but you also provide
key banking services to
communities that are too often
underserved by banks,”
he said in the letter. “Please
reconsider your decision to
close this branch. I strongly
urge you to keep this branch
open, and I would welcome a
conversation to share some
additional context about the
need for this bank branch on
Sedgwick Avenue.”
According to the assemblyman,
even if people
wanted to switch banks, the
options on Broadway are on
the other side of a 150-foot elevation
change that makes
it quite challenging for people
with limited mobility to
maintain the banking access
that they have enjoyed
on Sedgwick Avenue.
This closure will also affect
small business owners
who deposit large sums of
cash from their stores, people
who send money orders,
other transactions that cannot
be completed via ATM,
website or mobile application.
Additionally, many people
enjoy going in the bank
and have a trustworthy relationship
with the tellers.
In a letter to his constituents,
the lawmaker expressed
the desire to establish
banking services at post
offices and broached the
idea to more actively discuss
how to create a public banking
system that can supplant
the reliance on private corporations
for essential banking
services.
“I understand that there
seems to be an industrywide
trend to move away
from retail bank branches,
but as you are assuredly
aware there are still many
people who rely on one person
banking services,” Dinowitz
said in the letter.
Banks continue
to close in the
NW Bronx
/rankthevotenyc.org