Bank of NY to expand community outreach.The Community Coalition for Fair Banking, a project of East Harlem Interfaith in·ter·faith adj. Of, relating to, or involving persons of different religious faiths: an interfaith marriage; an interfaith forum. , and Inner City Press/Community on the Move, based in the South Bronx, announced that their challenge to the Bank of New York's (BONY) application to acquire 62 branches of Barclays Bank in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of State was successful. The Federal Reserve Board conditioned its approval of the acquisition on BONY's agreement to expand its community service area to include The Bronx, Northern Manhattan and Brooklyn. In its Community Reinvestment Act Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Enacted by Congress in 1977, the CRA encourages banks to help meet the credit needs of their communities for housing and other purposes, particularly in neighborhoods with low or moderate incomes, while maintaining safe and sound operations. (CRA See Community Reinvestment Act. ) community lending map, BONY had excluded these areas, thus sparking a challenge, under the CRA, from the two community groups. The two groups were represented by The New York Law School's Civil Law Clinic and Richard Krulik, Esq. The Federal Reserve Board's decision means that BONY must work to meet the credit needs of 3 million more low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. BONY has agreed to meet regularly with the community groups which brought the challenge to develop a program to meet the credit needs of East Harlem and the South Bronx, including small business loans and loans for multi-family affordable housing. The groups called the FRB's action "a big victory. This means that low-and moderate-income individuals--and the groups representing them--in the South Bronx, northern Manhattan and Brooklyn have achieved real standing under the Community Reinvestment Act and now can ask BONY to meet their credit needs under the Act." East Harlem Interfaith (EHI Ehi (ē`hī), the same as Ahiram. ) is a coalition of 42 congregations and faith-based agencies in East Harlem which advocate for social and economic justice. The Community Coalition for Fair Banking, a project of EHI, is dedicated to economic empowerment em·pow·er tr.v. em·pow·ered, em·pow·er·ing, em·pow·ers 1. To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority. See Synonyms at authorize. 2. in East Harlem. Represented by The New York Law School History New York Law School is one of the oldest independent law schools in the United States. The Law School was founded in 1891 by a group of faculty, students, and alumni of Columbia Law School led by their founding dean, Theodore William Dwight, a prominent figure in the Civil Law Clinic, EHI has been successful in the past in increasing the commitment of banks under the CRA to meet the credit needs of New York's diverse neighborhoods. For example, in a challenge to Banco de Ponce's merger with Banco Popular, they received a $5 million lending commitment for East Harlem. In addition, together with other community groups, their challenge to the Chemical Bank-Manufacturers Hanover Hanover, city, Germany Hanover, Ger. Hannover, city (1994 pop. 524,820), capital of Lower Saxony, N Germany, on the Leine River and the Midland Canal. merger lead to a $750 million lending commitment for community credit needs in New York, New Jersey and Texas, including significant monies for Harlem. Inner City Press/Community on the Move is a grassroots community housing group in the South Bronx that works with very low-income people. This is their first formal CRA challenge. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion