Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, October 4 - 10, 2019 BQ
The benefits of a Carib
Federal Credit Union
By Byron A. Ellis
Often private banks are
unwilling to provide credit
or offer higher interest
rates on loans to certain
borrowers. When private
banks shut off credits to
Caribbean, they negatively
affect the community infrastructure,
such as, housing
and sidewalks upgrading,
as well as Caribbean wellbeing.
With the 1934 Federal
Credit Union Act, Congress
established a market
for securities of the United
States, making available to
people of small means credit
for provident purposes. The
Act established an administrative
structure within the
federal government for the
supervision of credit unions.
The National Credit Union
Administration (NCUA) is
an independent agency with
responsibility for regulating
and chartering federal credit
unions. Thus, government
regulatory oversight
ensures that the funds are
properly administered.
A credit union is memberowned,
member-controlled,
not-for-profit cooperative
financial institution formed
to permit groups of persons
to save, borrow, and obtain
related financial services, as
well as to participate in its
management. Credit Union
capital comes from the savings
and borrowing of its
members; it would provide
loans for upkeep of infrastructure,
automobiles and
other credit necessities. A
credit union would provide
New York City (NYC) Caribbean
residents with a viable
source for savings and borrowing.
According to the New
York City Comptroller’s
website, the number of foreign
born from the Caribbean
living in NYC is slightly
over one (1) million residents,
with the Dominican
Republic (453,176), Jamaica
(185,681), Guyana (140,340),
Haiti (91,048) and Trinidad
& Tobago (89,302) leading
the way. When we include
first and second generations
of Caribbean born in the
United States, the potential
credit union members
increase significantly.
Baruch College Zicklin
School of Business (2017)
estimated foreign-born Caribbean
residents by country
of birth as: 301,328 living
in the Bronx, 276,733 in
Brooklyn, 131,213 in Manhattan,
175,723 in Queens
and 8,708 in Staten Island.
The NYC Planning indicated
that median household
income for Dominicans
is $29,300, for Jamaicans
$51,900, for Haitians
$60,000, for Guyanese
$60,000 and for Trinidadians
$51,000. The median
divides the household
income distribution into
two equal parts, one-half of
the cases falling below the
median and one-half above
the median income (U.S.
Census Bureau). Foreign
born Caribbean reside in all
NYC boroughs.
Caribbean residents in
NYC would benefit from
establishing a Caribbean
Federal Credit Union
(CFCU). If 10 percent of one
million foreign-born Caribbean
immigrants in NYC or
100,000 became members
of CFCU and each saved an
average of $1,200 per year or
$100 per month; at the end
of the first year the credit
union assets would grow to
$120,000,000 which would
be loaned out to members
at low interest rates. Loaned
out funds accrue interest,
which after accounting for
operating expenses becomes
membership dividends. If
the interest rate charged
on loans is 4 percent per
year, yearly accrue interest
on $100,000,000 loaned out
funds would be, at a minimum,
$4,000,000.
Increasing membership
and levels of savings and
borrowing would increase
CFCU assets. Furthermore,
even without membership
or savings increases,
at the end of the second
year CFCU financial assets
would double. Members
that are merchants could
develop a discount app to
establish mutually beneficial
relationships with
CFCU members.
The ability of foreignborn
Caribbean immigrants
and their offspring to pool
savings in a Federal Credit
Union would be advantageous
for them and the Caribbean
community in New
York City and elsewhere. It
would provide a means to
stabilize the credit structure
in the Caribbean community.
For help on establishing
a Federal Credit Union
contact The Jethro Project
Consulting Group.
By Schneps Media
For all the attention given
to the myriad problems in the
city’s subway system, not enough
attention is paid to the equally
woeful bus network citywide.
Notoriously slow and off
schedule, the buses nonetheless
serve as a vital transit link for
hundreds of thousands of New
Yorkers each day. The MTA and
city Transportation Department
realize the problems facing the
bus network and are doing things
to try and speed them up.
Unfortunately, in certain
instances, these efforts are facing
backlash from community merchants
and residents who say the
prescribed cures for slow buses
and street congestion are worse
than the ailments.
With the MTA attempting to
close 14th Street in Manhattan to
all vehicular traffic except buses,
and creating a bus lane along
Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood,
local groups have even taken
the extreme measure of going to
court to try and stop such plans.
A judge dismissed the case
against the Ridgewood bus lane
on Sept. 23, which was based by
the litigants on the perception
that removing parking and traffic
lanes from Fresh Pond Road
to better accommodate buses
would harm business.
But Judge Joseph Esposito, in
his ruling, wasn’t buying it —
and made, in our view, a great
point about the resistance to
traffic changes throughout the
city.
“You know why Fresh Pond
Coalition doesn’t like it? They
don’t like it because nobody likes
change,” Esposito told attorneys
for the coalition that sued
the city and MTA. “I don’t like
change … But it’s not about me.
It’s not about a narrow group
of people who use the roads …
Everybody has to share the road,
you don’t see that? It looks like
you’re taking a really parochial,
myopic view.”
A similar case on the proposed
14th Street busway in Manhattan
is still pending, and one wonders
if the judge in that case would
look to Esposito’s ruling for guidance.
The transportation situation
in the city, especially with regard
to buses, is untenable. To their
credit, the de Blasio Administration
is working with the MTA
to figure out ways to speed the
buses up to serve more people,
and reverse the troubling downward
trend in ridership as frustrated
commuters turn to ridesharing
as a faster alternative.
Whether it’s the creation of
restricted bus lanes, rerouting
entire bus lines or expanding
limited and Select Bus services,
change needs to happen.
We’re choking on our own
traffic, and if we can’t get to
where we need to go, we will
harm way more businesses and
families than those living on a
single street in any given neighborhood.
The city and MTA should
always work with communities
when implementing bus changes
to make the transition process
smooth. However, the time to
just say “no” to every proposal
needs to come to an end.
The city is at a transit breaking
point. We need to work together
to keep moving.
OP-EDS
The ability of
foreign-born
Caribbean
immigrants and
their offspring to
pool savings in
a Federal Credit
Union would be
advantageous
for them and
the Caribbean
community in New
York City and
elsewhere.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed care of this newspaper to the Editor,
Caribbean-Life Publications, 1 MetroTech Center North, Brooklyn, New York 11201, or sent via e-mail to caribbeanlife@
schnepsmedia.com. All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and the individual’s verifiable
address and telephone number included. Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
name will be published or withheld on request. No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves
the right to edit all submissions.
Don’t just say ‘no’
to change
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