Page 36 - 2021 Queens Economic Development Guide

Finance
Since 1947, the Maspeth Federal Savings & Loan Association has served Queens and Nassau Counties as a federally chartered savings and loan association.
As one of the largest U.S. bank holding companies, New York Community Bancorp, Inc. is the parent of New York Community Bank and Queens County Savings Bank, and holds assets of $48.5 billion.
The merger of Sterling Bancorp with Astoria Financial Corporation joined two complementary banks with deep roots in the New York area, creating a regional bank with over $30 billion in assets.
Established in 1859, Queens County Savings Bank was the first savings bank established in Queens, and is the longest serving mutual institution in the borough.
Maspeth Federal Savings Treats the Community Like Family
From the returning veterans of World War II, to today’s mortgage borrowers suffering financial hardship due to COVID-19, Maspeth Federal has been supporting the
financial needs of the Queens community for nearly 75 years.
By: Thomas Rudzewick, President & CEO, Maspeth Federal
Maspeth Federal Savings has been a part of my family for a very long time. In 1999, I was able to watch my father become President & CEO and witness his incredible contributions to the bank and our community. I now proudly follow in his footsteps and work alongside my brother, Glenn, who is the Chief Lending Officer, along with our wonderful Association senior leadership and employees.
Remember the movie It’s A Wonderful Life, and the Bailey’s Building and Loan Association?
That’s us. Maspeth Federal Savings started back in 1947. Back then, a lot of soldiers were coming home from the war and needed mortgages to buy homes. To meet their needs, a group of 10 local business owners banded together to help the community and applied for a federal charter.
Fast forward to today and we have grown to approximately $2 billion
in assets with a loan center and six branches serving Maspeth, Forest Hills, Fresh Meadows, Rego Park, Ridgewood, and New Hyde Park.
We are a community bank and are committed to investing in our neighborhood.
We are also a mutual bank, which means we don’t have stockholders demanding dividends. We offer a host of deposit products, including Free Checking Accounts, as well as savings accounts and CD’s. Our Young Savers Program is available to children and young adults to provide new and exciting ways to save for the future.
On the lending side, we offer fixed rate mortgages, Home Equity Lines of Credit, and refinancing loans, as well as a First Time Homebuyers Program. We service and hold our mortgages, which means you can always reach out to our lending specialists with
any questions about your loan.
For businesses, we offer loans for Multi-Family & Mixed-Use Buildings, Commercial Buildings, Commercial Lines of Credit, Construction and Land loans.
When COVID hit, we were better prepared than most businesses.
Federal and State regulations require banks to be prepared for an Emergency Crisis, so we had limited Personal Protection Equipment
on hand before the start of the pandemic. Through our Business Continuity Plan, we instituted our Crisis Management Committee in early March, allowing us to swiftly react to COVID. We were then able to secure additional PPE for our staff and put proper protocols in place to allow us to safely continue business.
The health and well-being of our employees and customers were
the top priorities and therefore
we immediately adopted social distancing, daily cleanings, and
other safeguards. We also supported the mental health of our employees through wellness programs and Paid Time Off. Employees had to manage childcare and balance remote schooling, so we shifted most of our back-office workforce to remote by purchasing laptops and upgrading our system connectivity. Even with
the required health protocols, we were one of the few banks to keep all branches open throughout the crisis.
Our strong capital reserves provided us a cushion to absorb the financial impact on our bottom line.
We not only kept our entire staff employed, but also provided a bonus for our customer facing employees because we knew many of their families were facing mounting personal and financial hardships.
Beginning in mid-March, as mortgage payments came due, we received numerous calls of financial hardship. Our Board of Directors
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QUEENS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
© Maspeth Federal Savings