BRONX, N.Y.–The first satellite branch of the Bronx People’s Federal Credit Union, an expansion project of the Lower East Side People’s FCU, has been opened in partnership with the Bronx Financial Access Coalition.
“The dedication and hard work of four long-standing Bronx community housing organizations, the reinvestment commitment of Webster Bank, and the expansive vision and steady diligence of the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union together are restoring quality and convenient banking services to the South Bronx,” the organizations said in a statement. “Not many generations ago, the neighborhoods of Longwood, Morrisania, Crotona Park East, Hunts Point, Melrose and Mott Haven were home to dozens of banks and credit unions as well as a thriving multi-ethnic music scene and some of the most racially integrated public schools in the nation.
‘Government-Sanctioned Redlining’
“Government-sanctioned redlining and disinvestment by the banking, insurance and real estate industries, however, set up a self-fulfilling prophecy of decline and devastation, not just in the fires and abandonment, but also the closure of local bank branches,” the statement continued. “While community residents led the rebuilding efforts in the Bronx, the borough is still home to the lowest concentration of branches of any county in the state, where check cashers and pawn shops have filled the void – a symbol of the banking apartheid system in our nation.”
The new credit union satellite branch is located at 941 Intervale Ave.
‘Expanding Footprint’
“We are excited to celebrate the opening of the Bronx People’s Federal Credit Union satellite branch, thanks to our partnership with the Bronx Financial Access Coalition,” Aissatou Barry-Fall, president & CEO of the Lower East Side People’s FCU, said in a statement. “With this new location, we are expanding our footprint and now can continue to offer quality, affordable financial products and services to a community that is underserved. The credit union is dedicated to supporting the area’s growth and prosperity. We feel strongly about ‘Affordable Financial Services’ as a right, not a privilege.”
Numerous organizations involved in the project came together while organizing against bank branch closures between 2019 and 2021 and formed a coalition to address the harm caused to the community.
‘Willing Partner’
“When they met with representatives of Sterling Bank regarding the closure of their branch on East 149th Street, they found a willing partner who was in the process of merging with Connecticut-based Webster Bank. Sterling itself had acquired Astoria Bank in 2017, and the new larger merged institution – Webster Bank – has been funding the Coalition’s work since 2022,” the organizations said.
