Content area
Full text
A few months ago, New York Community Bancorp honored one of its workers for 25 years of service. On Thursday, the worker, who asked not to be identified, was laid off as part of a mass firing at bank branches.
Westbury-based New York Community Bancorp has laid off dozens, and possibly more than 100 workers, including some with decades of experience.
The bank, with $40.6 billion in assets as of June 30, said it wouldn't reveal how many were let go, but workers said this round of layoffs occured Thursday, effective Friday.
They said employees had been told not to take the day off on Thursday, prompting some concern, although there apparently was no forewarning.
Workers said at least 30 employees, primarily women, were let go in Suffolk along with layoffs in Nassau and other regions. The Staten Island Advance estimated layoffs in Staten Island at between 30 and 70.
And workers said they believed there had been layoffs at other operations ranging from Ohio to Florida in recent weeks.
Mary Beth Kissane, a principal at Manhattan-based Walek & Associates, speaking on behalf of the bank, said the economic impact of the layoffs did not rise to "materiality," the threshold for reporting financial information to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"From...