30 The Queens Courier • business • MAY 22, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com business (continued from cover) (continued on page 32) dents to be able to call Queens home, it’s critical for them to have access to crucial services, including banking. In fact, Queens County Savings Bank was the nation’s first savings bank chartered in Queens. The first branch opened it’s doors in Flushing on April 14, 1859. “There were no other savings banks in Queens at that time,” says Ficalora. “For 155 years, we have been providing the services that people need to succeed, whether it’s an individual obtaining a loan so that he or she can purchase his or her own home or a vibrant small business thriving after receiving funding from the bank.” NYCB is a stable institution that can provide funding to help people meet their needs and goals. Ficalora has served on the boards of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Queens Museum, New York Hall of Science, Queens Theater, Queens Public Library, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Flushing Cemetery, Queensboro Community College, and Queens College. This extensive involvement gives him a wide view of the issues affecting businesses and individuals throughout the borough. “Because I’m so involved, whenever I’m made aware of an issue happening in Queens, I try to help out by calling on the resources of these organizations that I work with.” One such organization, Ficalora says, is the Queens Library. He underscores the importance of the library as a fixture in the community to which financial backing is of the utmost importance. According to Ficalora, it’s an organization and a mainstay of the community that holds many different meanings for various individuals--himself included. “I still remember the library on National Street that I went to as a child, which only had two tables and a few books at the time.” he recalls. “There’s no escaping the fact that the library has so many community-oriented services. It’s a place that
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