The Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union (PSFCU) is celebrating its 50th anniversary with two Tre Voci concerts: on Friday, October 16, at the Polish National Home “Warsaw” in Greenpoint, and on Sunday, October 18, at Colden Auditorium, Queens College. Free tickets for members are available at PSFCU branches.
Half a century of the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union will be celebrated with music. The vocal trio Tre Voci will perform at two concerts in New York, and the credit union is inviting its members. Tickets are free and can be picked up at any PSFCU branch.
Where and when
Friday, October 16
Polish National Home “Warsaw”, 261 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Concert at 8:00 pm, doors open at 7:00 pm
Sunday, October 18
Kupferberg Center for the Arts, Colden Auditorium – Queens College, 153-49 Reeves Ave, Flushing, NY 11367
Concert at 6:00 pm, doors open at 5:00 pm
Free tickets for PSFCU members are available at the credit union’s branches. Details on the poster below.
Fifty years ago, the banks said “no”
The credit union’s story began with a refusal. In the mid-1970s, Polish immigrants wanted to buy homes in Greenpoint, but the banks told them the same thing: they had no credit history in America, and the neighborhood was considered run-down. Instead of going from one bank to another, people from the Polish & Slavic Center set up their own credit union. Federal regulators chartered it on December 27, 1976. Its first office was at 940 Manhattan Avenue, and in 1981 the credit union bought the building at 140 Greenpoint Avenue, which still houses its Greenpoint branch.
From one office on a Polish street grew the largest ethnic credit union in the United States, with assets of more than $2.5 billion and branches in six states: New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Florida. The branch map follows the map of Polish settlement – from Greenpoint, Maspeth and Ridgewood, through Wallington, Garfield and Clifton, to the Chicago area. Fifty years after its founding, the credit union opened a new headquarters at 100 McGuinness Blvd, right next to where it all began.
Owned by its members
A credit union differs from a bank in who owns it. PSFCU belongs to its members, and each member has one vote in board elections, regardless of account balance. Membership comes through one of the organizations that founded and support the credit union, including the Polish & Slavic Center and the Kosciuszko Foundation. One thing has not changed since 1976: contracts, terms and fee schedules can be discussed in Polish, with staff for whom Polish is an everyday working language. Members’ deposits are federally insured by the NCUA.
