Some things are more worth protesting than others.

Where a need for a key product or service is deep, the last provider is leaving, and local resources to replace is are low or don\'t exist, a community protest makes sense.

Imagine being infirm, having no car, being on a fixed income and your bank is a challenging but doable walk away. And then, it closes its doors and the next one is almost a mile further away.

i used to use this bank a lot because they had good hours (open until 8pm most days) but i closed out all of my checking accounts ages ago anyway.

Quote:

Of course you can protest to bring them back if you do it in a lawful manner. But whether it would make a difference or not is questionable.

i'm still not understanding why a community can protest a failing business closing? i mean... plenty of stores i like went out of business... and i cant protest to bring them back...

Quote:
Ditto. What do you think of the credit union option?

Quote: Oakwood Bank in Texas, America's smallest bank, has about $3 million in total assets and about $2.13 million in total deposits. In contrast, America's largest bank, Chase, has about $1.60 trillion of assets and almost $1 trillion of deposits, more than 500,000 times the size of Oakwood.

Better for the neighborhood now they can open up their own bank without the corporate competition.

Or maybe if they didn't pay such huge bonuses for running their banks into the ground this branch would still be open...

oh, cram it.

Seriously?! They're protesting a legal business decision to close a branch in one of the worst areas of the city!?

Get a job. Community organizing is an occupation better suited for the elitists and corrupt.

Maybe if the great and powerful Obama wasn't ripping into the banks so much they could afford to stay in these blighted areas.

Residents near MLK Drive protest loss of 'the only bank in the neighborhood'

Friday, January 29, 2010
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Angry protesters carrying red and white signs rallied outside the Bank of America on Martin Luther King Drive with Assemblyman Charles Mainor yesterday, declaring the company made the "wrong corporate decision" to close the only bank on that street.

The Bank of America branch inside the Extra Supermarket at the HUB shopping center is to close at 2 p.m. today.

Red signs posted on the tellers windows directed customers to the closest branch, at 2400 Kennedy Blvd. at Communipaw Avenue, a half-mile away. Another Bank of America branch is at the Hudson Mall on Route 440, a mile away.

Two ATMs, which allow deposits as well as withdrawals, are remaining at the branch. But customers and demonstrators said the nearest branches are too far for senior citizens and other residents who rely on public transportation.

"This isn't right," said Reyvond McMillian, 62, a retiree and a resident of Danforth Avenue who grew up on Orient Avenue. "This is the only bank in the neighborhood."

"We need it in this area," said customer James Porter, 72, of Fulton Avenue, who was using the ATM.

Mainor, who represents Bayonne and Jersey City, said state Sen. Sandra Cunningham has approached other banks about opening a branch, and he has been talking with community leaders about starting a credit union. Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said his administration is talking with other banks.