Community Corner

People's United Bank Opening Set for Early 2012

Construction issues delay opening of Bayport bank to Jan.-Feb. 2012, nearly one year from the original anticipated opening date.

People’s United Bank won't officially join the community until early 2012, when officials anticipate completion of construction and pending approvals.

John Romano, People’s United Bank Long Island regional president, said the foul weather and rain has been a constant problem for the on Montauk Highway in Bayport, causing the opening to be pushed back more than once already. Construction is currently making steady progress, according to Romano, who anticipates an early 2012 opening.

"Now that we've made quite a bit of headway since the weather has cooperated, the bank will probably open sometime toward the end of January 2012 or early February," Romano said.

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The "physical" construction of the bank, such as the building, landscaping, interior and exterior, Romano said, will most likely be complete at the end of December.

People's United is currently waiting for regulatory approval from the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC), an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury; the department approves or denies applications for new charters, branches, capital, or other changes in corporate or banking structure, according to the OCC website.

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Approval should be granted shortly, said Romano.

"Once that's in hand and the general contractor completes contruction and gives us the C/O, we'll be ready to go," he said.

People United Bank will bring the total number of banks located on a one-mile strip of Montauk Highway in Bayport and Blue Point to five. The Bayport branch is the first on Long Island constructed as a People’s United, and the Bohemia branch, located at 3460 Vets Highway, is currently the closest People’s United to Bayport.

Bayport Civic Association (BCA) President Bob Draffin said People’s United was very responsive to the requests of the civic, who presented bank reps with suggestions on how to make the development project work in favor of both the bank and the Bayport-Blue Point community.

Certain concessions were made on the behalf of People’s United in order to satisfy the requests of the community. As suggested by the BCA, a new right turn lane has been constructed on Bernice Drive to prevent traffic congestion [see photos], and a community plaza with benches, signage and flag- all maintained by the BCA- will be constructed on the west part of the property, near the bank’s entrance.

“We had lots of input, they [bank reps] reached out to us,” Draffin said previously. “There were a lot of uses for that parcel; they really did work with the community to make the project as community-friendly as possible, and that’s certainly appreciated.”


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