Northfield Bank’s new Court Street branch followed its recent ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, March 2, with a grand opening cocktail reception on Wednesday, March 13.
The event brought together community leaders, judges and attorneys from the neighboring courts, along with Northfield Bank’s executive officers, bank presidents, vice-presidents and branch managers.
The reception took place at the Northfield’s new location at 112 Court Street, and was organized by Brian Chin, vice president and branch manager of both the Court Street and Bay Ridge branches of Northfield Bank.
Northfield Bank President and CEO Steven Klein welcomed guests and thanked everyone for attending. “We are very proud to be a part of the Brooklyn Heights community,” said Klein. “This is our 40th branch, it’s our 10th location in Brooklyn, and what a great way to turn 10!”
Klein expressed his pleasure with the new branch and explained how Northfield already considers itself a part of the neighborhood. “I like to say that we are locally grown. Everything you see is about being part of the neighborhoods, about being part of the communities and being laser focused on our customers whether it’s personal or business. I think our way of banking is going to fit very well in Brooklyn Heights,” he said.
Robin Lefkowitz, executive vice president, director of branch administration and business development agreed that Northfield is very indoctrinated in the community and is involved with many non-profit organizations. “What makes us different from our competitors is that we get to know our customers,” said Lefkowitz. “We get to know their businesses, their lives and we want them to come to us and to trust us.”
Chin thanked Klein for opening the branch on Court Street and introduced all of the new bank’s personnel.
Northfield Bank was founded in 1887 with a mission of serving the financial needs of a community. “We are proudly continuing that tradition today by staying true to our reputation of trust, respect and stability,” said Chin. “We love to say that Northfield Bank was born in 1887 but was built for today.”
Attending the grand opening reception were Civil Court Justice Lizette Colon, Supreme Court Justices David Vaughan and Mark Partnow, renowned personal injury attorney Sanford Rubenstein, Bay Ridge lawyers Joseph Vasile, Robert Howe, Gary Hanna, and Joanne Seminara of Grimaldi &Yeung LLP Partners; Ilan Stern, vice president of the New York Building Congress, Hector Batista, president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Josephine Brown, executive director of the New York Memory Center in Park Slope.
Other members of the Northfield executive team who were recognized included John Connors, who serves on the bank’s board of directors, Michael Widmer, executive vice president of operations, Regina Boukhvalova, vice president of business development, Michael Angelone, senior vice president commercial lending and Joan Risko, also in commercial lending.
Chin offered a gift certificate to anyone who could tell him when the Brooklyn Bridge was completed. Judge Partnow won by being the first person to know the date was May 24, 1883.
Chin thanked the guests for attending the event and welcoming Northfield Bank to the Heights. “According to GQ magazine, Brooklyn is the coolest place to live,” added Chin.
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