Maps of Banking Development Districts

Areas of New York City with Low Access to Full-Service Bank Branches
This geographic analysis was designed to identify areas of New York City that may not be adequately served by existing, full-service bank and thrift branches. 

As a starting point, bank and thrift locations were downloaded from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (“FDIC”) website, then geo-coded and plotted on a map.  Next, using census tract boundaries from the 2000 Census, a proximity analysis was conducted to determine how many branches fell either: (1) within the boundaries of each particular census tract, or (2) within a buffer zone extending one-quarter mile (0.25 mi.) beyond the perimeter of each tract.

Based on the number of branches within each tract and its buffer area, the map was color coded to show the relative proximity of each tract to full-service bank branches.  Three categories of color coding were used:

1. Dark Blue: There are no full-service branches within the census tract and no full-service branches within the 0.25-mile buffer zone.
2. Light Blue: One full-service branch is located within the census tract or the 0.25 mile buffer zone.
3. No Color: Two or more full-service branches are located within the tract and/or its 0.25 mile buffer zone.

To help viewers navigate the map, parks and cemeteries are shown in green, while airports (La Guardia and JFK) are shown in gray. 

Community Action Center (“CAC”) Data
In April 2007, Comptroller Thompson established a dedicated Foreclosure Prevention Hotline within his office’s Community Action Center (“CAC”).  This hotline was developed specifically to help homeowners in New York City avoid losing their homes during the nation’s growing and evolving mortgage crisis. 

As can be seen on Map 2, the pattern of calls to the CAC aligns closely with the pattern of areas having low access to full-service bank branches. 

To provide a different perspective, the CAC’s foreclosure-prevention cases were also plotted against the backdrop of median family income levels (see maps 3 and 4).  As can be seen most clearly on Staten Island and in southeast Queens, even middle and upper-income areas have been affected by the crisis.

Notes Regarding the Data Sources
  
These maps are based on an analysis of bank and thrift branch locations within New York City.  For bank branches, the data reflect the full-service (i.e., Service Type 11 or 12) branch locations reported on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Institution Directory as of March 27, 2008.  Since the Institution Directory does not provide information regarding thrift branch locations, the addresses of those branches were obtained from the FDIC’s annual Summary of Deposits (“SOD”) report.  This report is compiled as of June 30 each year.  Data for 2008 were not yet available at the time this analysis was conducted, so thrift locations are based on information from the SOD report compiled as of June 30, 2007.

Median family income levels are based on data from the 2000 Census.  The cut-off points for low-, moderate, middle- and upper-income areas were established using the definitions contained in the federal Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”). 

MAP 1	MAP 2
MAP 3	MAP 4
MAP 5