Banks open branches here despite crisis
By Karen O’Shea
January 09, 2010, 9:57AM
Looking around at new bank branches being built today in the borough, it’s hard to believe a banking crisis recently subsided and a credit crisis still lingers.
At least three new bank branches are under construction here, and more are planned for Staten Island. At one location in Richmond Valley, a TD Bank is going up on one corner and a Northfield Bank is planned for the opposite corner.
Expanding banks include both regional and community banks and, to a lesser degree, larger institutions that received bailout money from the federal government.
While the local trend bucks a national one of downsizing, banks expanding here are likely doing so because the nearby financial capital of the world, Wall Street, has undergone seismic changes.
Some large banks or financial institutions have shut completely or divested themselves of services such as private banking or wealth management.
“Some banks see an opportunity to pick up market share that would fuel their growth in a given market,” said Mack Wood, a managing director of Sheshunoff Consulting, which tracks the financial services industry.
“I think the good thing for consumers is that there are groups of customers whose preferred delivery channel is still the branch,” he added.