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COVER STORY: Ridgewood Savings Bank Turns 100
COVER STORY RIDGEWOOD SAVINGS THROUGH THE YEARS
IN 1929, RIDGEWOOD SAVINGS LAID THE CORNERSTONE FOR ITS ICONIC HEADQUARTERS. SEVERAL RENOVATIONS LATER, IT IS STILL THE MAIN OFFICE TODAY.
AS THE COUNTRY GRAPPLED WITH ITS TOUGHEST ECONOMIC CRISIS, RIDGEWOOD AND ITS CUSTOMERS MARKED THEIR FIRST 10 YEARS OF DEPENDABLE LOCAL BANKING. IN 1940, RIDGEWOOD SAVINGS BANK OPENED ITS FIRST BRANCH OFFICE ON QUEENS BOULEVARD IN FOREST HILLS.
THE HOLLIS BRANCH OF RIDGEWOOD SAVINGS BANK OPENED ON HILLSIDE AVENUE IN 1961.
RIDGEWOOD SAVINGS BANK CONTINUED TO BRANCH OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY, OPENING THE LAURELTON LOCATION IN 1948.
COVER STORY
EAGER BANKING CUSTOMERS CROWD THE FLOOR. AS CUSTOMER NEEDS EVOLVED, SO DID RIDGEWOOD SAVINGS. THE BANK OPENED NEW YORK CITY’S FIRST DRIVE-UP TELLER WINDOW AT ITS MAIN OFFICE IN 1957.
THE MAIN OFFICE DECORATED FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON.
CUSTOMERS SPEAK WITH BANK PERSONNEL IN A PHOTO TAKEN IN 1948.
ANOTHER RIBBON CUTTING: TODAY RIDGEWOOD SAVINGS BANK HAS 35 BRANCHES IN THE NEW YORK METRO AREA.
COVER STORY RIDGEWOOD CEO REFLECTS ON CENTENNIAL
BY SHANE MILLER
In 1920, 14 local business leaders, including an undertaker and butcher, formed a partnership with the goal of creating a bank in their local community. On June 18, 1921, then-mayor John Hylan presided over the opening ceremony for Ridgewood Savings Bank. On that first day of business, 519 customers deposited a total of $50,000.
As the bank prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary later this month, Ridgewood Savings stands as the largest mutual savings bank in New York State with assets approaching $7 billion and 35 branches, ten of them in Queens.
“I’m really just a shepherd in this process,” current president and CEO Leonard Stekol told This Is Queensborough. “Somebody passed the baton to me, and I want to pass the baton to the next person to make sure we continue the legacy of Ridgewood Savings.
“So it’s an honor,” he added of being at the helm for such a momentous milestone, “but I’m really representing the forefathers, our board, and our employees. It is a point in time that represents the work of everyone else. The bank has been around for 100 years, it will be around for another 100 years.”
Stekol emigrated from Latvia in 1979 with his parents and younger sister, and the family eventually settled in Forest Hills. After he graduated from Queens College with a degree in accounting, he landed a job in the Audit Department at Ridgewood Savings Bank in 1992, where he has been ever since. He says his situation is not unusual.
“Our average employee has been here for decades, our customers have been with us for decades,” he said. “We service customers that are going on third or fourth generations.”
Just under four years ago, Stekol was appointed president and CEO. He said as he moved up the corporate ladder, he was able to continue his education thanks to Ridgewood Savings.
“We have very strong incentives and a commitment to education, so I was fortunate enough to get my master’s degree,” he said. “While I was working at the bank I was also taking advantage of these opportunities that to this day are still offered to all of our employees, regardless of rank and title.”
That commitment to education extends to the bank’s customers, particularly in the area of financial literacy. Ridgewood Financial Academy offers free online tutorials on topics like owning a home, running a small business, and the foundations of a sound financial situation. Many of the tutorials are under ten minutes.
“What we’ve found is that the younger generation, while very highly educated, don’t understand some of the basics,” Stekol said. “That includes things like how to apply for a loan, how to build up your credit score, and how to look for a mortgage. It’s even things like how does a checking account work.”
Individual branch managers also work with local students, often visiting classrooms to conduct financial literacy classes. For example, bank vice president Lou Ann Man-
Ridgewood Savings Bank President & CEO Leonard Stekol in front of the mural in the Main Branch, which reads “Saving is the Secret of Wealth.”
nino recently hosted a class via strong presence in local communiZoom for students at The Young ties was never more important than Women’s Leadership School of during the pandemic, which includAstoria in conjunction with the ed providing nearly $30 million in nonprofit group Lessons for My federal funding to over 4,000 local Daughter. businesses through the Paycheck The bank also helps elementary Protection Program. school kids open their first bank “I’m really proud of how the account, starting them off with $10 bank stepped up with so many difin seed money. Stekol said it’s all ferent initiatives to give back to part of the bank’s efforts to create the community,” Stekol said. “Our relationships in the community in a efforts were always there, but we variety of ways, increased them.” which includes Building those relationships hosting com- also means embracing new ways “OUR AVERAGE EMPLOYEE HAS BEEN HERE FOR DECADES, OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN WITH US FOR DECADES. munity events like Girl Scout cookie sales, of banking made possible through technology, including a highly rated banking app. Customers can WE SERVICE CUSTOMERS THAT ARE GOING ON THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATIONS.” car washes, and summer concerts at local also take advantage of the experts at Ridgewood Financial Services to guide them in retirement planning branches. or investing in the stock market. He said that “Those are services in addition to
COVER STORY
the normal things that you would find in a bank,” Stekol said. “We try to do our best to form relationships and service our customers with all of their different financial needs.”
But while some people feel perfectly comfortable banking online, Stekol says the bank has not abandoned the services historically associated with traditional banking.
“We offer state-of-the-art digital channels, but at the same time if you want to pick up a phone and call us, that’s wonderful as well,” he said. “We don’t push our customers to bank with us in any particular way.”
If you do pick up a phone and call Ridgewood Savings Bank, it’s likely you will be talking to someone in the bank’s call center, which for the past six years has been staffed 24/7 in the bank’s Main Branch, an iconic building at Forest and Myrtle avenues in Ridgewood that was built in 1921 on the site of a former saloon.
“It’s the hand-holding and compassion that separates us from other
The cornerstone for the Main Branch in Ridgewood was laid in 1921 on the site of a former saloon.
banks,” Stekol said of the importance of the call center. “Some people might need a little more help, and that’s what we bring to the table.”
Ridgewood Savings Bank’s commitment to its customers has not gone unrecognized by the banking industry. In 2020, the bank was named the second-highest-performing bank in New York State in an independent customer survey conducted by Forbes magazine. In a second customer survey, the bank landed in the top five in the New York market in the 2020 Banking Choice Awards.
“All of our passion, persistence, and efforts have been recognized, and that’s coming from our customers. We didn’t apply for those awards,” Stekol said. “Many banks offer similar services, but the entire essence of a community bank is giving back. It makes a difference in ordinary lives.”
To celebrate the bank’s centennial, Ridgewood Savings is hosting a number of different events and promotions, but one that Stekol is particularly proud of is the Random Acts of Kindness program. Bank customers are chosen at random in various branches to receive a $100 gift card, which Stekol hopes they will use to exemplify the bank’s motto of “multiplying the good.”
“All we tell them is ‘pay it forward,’” he said. “Take this and do something nice for a complete stranger.”
50 YEARS WITH RIDGEWOOD SAVINGS
Joyce Scida was just 18 years old and fresh out of high school in 1971 when she walked into the Main Office of Ridgewood Savings Bank and inquired about a job. A short time later – September 27 to be exact – she was behind the counter working as a teller. It was her first, and still only, full-time job.
“I used to have a school account and I went in to make deposits, so I knew the bank,” she said. “I asked if there was an opening and filled out an application. In less than a week, I was called in for an interview.”
Today, Scida is the longesttenured employee at Ridgewood Savings. She will be celebrating her 50th anniversary the same year the bank celebrates its 100th.
“I saw people advancing, so I thought I’m going to hang around,” she said.
And advance she did. From teller, Scida was promoted to chief clerk, then assistant manager and soon manger. Today she is vice president of Operations Control. Scida has always worked in the Main Office, which means she is a familiar face to the regular customers at the flagship branch.
“They say to me, ‘you’re still here!’” she said. “Customers that I dealt with years ago still call me for help when they have problem with their account.
“When I was a teller, I helped a customer’s mother with some important stuff, and to this day he comes in and thanks me,” Scida added. “You really get to know your customers, and I like that.”
Scida knows that her time at Ridgewood Savings will eventually come to end, but for now she is enjoying the work and the friends she has made over the last five decades.
“The bank treats you well and they really care for their employees,” she said. “I’ve made longtime friends here. Some people have retired and I still keep in touch with them.”
