New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was one of the dignitaries who helped open the new ERDA Federal Credit Union in the Queens section of New York. The community development credit union is the first CU to open in New York City in a decade.
The credit union is the most recent effort by the East River Development Alliance to help citizens in one of the lowest income parts of the city.
"Nearly 50,000 Queens households-many in public housing-don't have bank accounts, and one of the major reasons is a lack of access to local credit unions," said Mayor Bloomberg at the April 26 opening.
"The East River Development Alliance is committed to helping public housing residents in Long Island City move up the economic ladder, and its new federal credit union is a major step forward. The City's Office of Financial Empowerment looks forward to working closely with ERDA to ensure that low income New Yorkers throughout the City have access to the products and services they need. ERDA President Bishop Mitchell Taylor, Board Chair Jeremy Selman and the entire organization deserve a lot of credit for identifying real community needs and then taking action to address them, Bloomberg added."
"ERDA is dedicated to making public housing developments places of great opportunity, places which house a positive vision of the future for the people who live here. The establishment of this financial cooperative, owned by residents, makes resident empowerment and ownership real," said ERDA Founder and President Bishop Mitchell G. Taylor. "The opening of the ERDA FCU marks the next phase of ERDA's work for change, and presents a model for every public housing neighborhood in New York City."
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