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New York Community Bancorp, Inc. Business Information, Profile, and History

615 Merrick Avenue
Westbury
New York
11590
U.S.A.

Company Perspectives

Established in 1993 to serve as the holding company for New York Community Bank, we have evolved from a $900 million institution at the time of our conversion to stock form to a $26.3 billion institution at December 31, 2005. Over the years, our growth has been fueled by organic loan production, and by a series of successful merger transactions.

History of New York Community Bancorp, Inc.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYCB) is a holding company for New York Commercial Bank and New York Community Bank. The latter, formerly known as Long Island Commercial Bank, serves small and medium-sized businesses and consumers in Long Island and Brooklyn, while the former is one of the five largest thrifts in the United States, boasting some 140 branch offices and assets of more than $26 billion. New York Community Bank has been cobbled together by the acquisition of several New York metropolitan-area community banks, the names of which the thrift continues to use as a way to connect with local residents. They include Queens County Savings Bank, serving the borough of Queens with 34 branches; Roslyn Savings Banks, whose 60 locations serve residents of New York's Nassau and Suffolk Counties; Richmond County Savings Bank, a Staten Island thrift with 23 branches; Roosevelt Savings Bank, maintaining nine branches in Brooklyn; CFS Bank, with single branches in Manhattan and the Bronx and four branches in Westchester County; First Savings Bank of New Jersey, operating four branches in Bayonne, New Jersey; and Ironbound Bank, operating four branches in New Jersey's Essex and Union Counties. In addition, NYCB launched New York Community Bank in 2005 by opening a branch under that name in The Bronx. NYCB mostly focuses on multifamily residential mortgages, which accounts for about 80 percent of all loans, but it also offers to consumers checking, savings, investment, and insurance products as well as online banking; and checking, cash management, lending, property management, and other services to business customers.

Origins Dating to 19th Century

NYCB considers Queens County Savings Bank as its founding institution. It was chartered by the state of New York in April 1859, becoming the first bank in Queens, the residents of which were grateful they no longer had to venture into Manhattan to take care of their banking needs. It remained a community bank, focused on the borough of Queens, and it was not until the early 1990s that Queens County Savings, under the leadership of NYCB's chief executive officer, Joseph R. Ficalora, began its transformation.

Ficalora was born and raised in Queens. He first came to work for Queens County Savings in 1965 at the age of 18. He began taking night classes at Queensboro Community College and went to work as a part-time teller, considering a job at the bank as a better option than the drugstore and grocery store where he had been employed previously. He did not intend to devote his life to banking. Rather, Ficalora considered becoming a psychiatrist. In 1968 he joined the military, serving one year in Vietnam and three years as an occupational service psychiatric specialist, an experience that soured him on a career in psychology. He returned to work at Queens County Savings in the early 1970s and decided that he preferred to serve people through community banking. He earned degrees from Pace University and the American Institute of Banking and began to work his way up through the bank's management ranks, becoming president and chief operating officer in 1989. Four years later he was named chief executive officer.

Ficalora quickly convinced the board of directors that the bank should make a public offering of stock, not only to grow the business but also to increase shareholder value. In July 1993 Queens County Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated and Ficalora was named president and chief executive officer. The corporation then acquired all of the capital stock of Queens County Savings Banks and subsequently made an initial public offering of stock. The shares began trading on the NASDAQ. Ficalora took an early stab at expansion through acquisition, but his attempt to add Bayside Federal Savings was thwarted by North Fork Bancorp, which made a higher bid. Five years later North Fork outbid him again in picking up Jamaica Savings Bank. Despite these disappointments, Ficalora was not desperate enough to overpay for a property, preferring to bide his time and grow Queens County internally, taking advantage of the consolidation that was taking place in New York City's banking industry. According to Business Week in a 2004 profile of Ficalora, "One by one, rivals such as Chemical Bank, Manufacturers Hanover, and Dime Savings were swallowed up by even bigger banks. Their names disappeared and branches closed. Disgruntled customers flocked to Ficalora's bank." Along the way, he also fended off a takeover bid from Emigrant Savings Bank, which according to press accounts was looking to make itself more attractive to big bank suitors.

New Century Bringing First Major Acquisition

By the end of the 1990s Queens County operated 14 branches. Although it was doing well as a multifamily apartment lender in the metropolitan area, it lacked a sufficient amount of low-cost deposits to help it fund additional loans. As a result, it had to borrow from the Federal Home Loan Bank, a far more expensive approach to doing business because the interest rates were 5 to 6 percent, rather than the 2 to 3 percent of checking accounts. This situation was the catalyst for Ficalora's first acquisition, which came in 2000 when Queens County acquired Haven Bancorp for a reported $196 million in stock. Haven was the holding company for CFS Bank, founded in 1889 as Columbia Building & Loan Association. In the 1930s it became Columbia Savings and Loan, and after receiving a federal charter in 1938 became Columbia Federal Savings Bank. It adopted the CFS Bank name in 1997, which it applied to the 62 supermarket branches it opened--but unfortunately at too rapid a pace. Earnings suffered and Haven's board members urged a sale of CFS. Queens County and CFS were a perfect fit, as the former gained the low-cost deposits it needed to expand its loan portfolio and CFS gained the financial security it needed. Following the completion of the deal, Queens County changed its name to reflect its geographic expansion, becoming New York Community Bancorp, Inc.

In 2001 NYCB elected to sell seven of the CFS supermarket branches located in northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut that were outside of its core market. The rest of the year was dominated by further expansion, as NYCB completed the acquisition of Staten Island-based Richmond County Financial Corporation in an all-stock deal valued at $802 million, a steep price but one that Ficalora believed was warranted in order to achieve a much needed increase in size. Like NYCB, Richmond traced its history to the 19th century, with its founding in 1886. It was also a fast-growing thrift, bringing with it other banking brands. In addition to Richmond County Savings Bank, NYCB added First Savings Bank of New Jersey, founded in 1889, and of more recent origin, Ironbound Bank, founded in 1988 in the Ironbound section of Newark, New Jersey. NYCB also picked up South Jersey Bank, the eight branches of which it would sell off in 2003. All told, Richmond brought with it 33 branches in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and New Jersey and increased NYCB's assets from $4.7 billion to $8.7 billion, and deposits from $3.2 billion to $5.6 billion--essentially doubling NYCB's size and making it one of the United States top 15 thrifts. There were other tangible benefits as well. NYCB achieved a strong presence in a rapidly growing Staten Island, attractive because of its high percentage of upper-middle-class families; gained a larger footprint in the New York metropolitan area and added Richmond's seasoned management team, which could help NYCB fill in the market with additional branches; and received a 47 percent interest in well-respected investment adviser Peter B. Cannell & Co., which had $650 million in assets under management. NYCB subsequently acquired a 100 percent stake in the firm. As a result, Ficalora told US Banker, "We can provide an array of products and financial services equal to any megabank."

NYCB's growth in the early 2000s was impressive. Total assets increased from $4.7 billion in 2000 to more than $11.3 billion in 2002, and net income during this period soared from less than $25 million to nearly $230 million. After digesting the Richmond acquisition in 2002, NYCB was ready in 2003 to expand even further.

In October 2003 NYCB completed the acquisition of Nassau County's Roslyn Savings Bank in a stock transaction valued at $1.58 billion. Roslyn was another venerable institution in the area, established in 1876. Ficalora was in Europe on business when bidding began on the Long Island thrift in June 2003. He hurried home and in a matter of days he and his team put together a winning offer, which was not the highest bid but Roslyn believed represented the best possibility for improving shareholder value. Ficalora also was helped to some extent by longstanding ties between the two banks. Back in the 1960s Queens County Savings and Roslyn teamed up with Richmond County Savings and Roosevelt Savings Bank to form a consortium called CompuThrift, which provided technology assistance to the member banks. After CompuThrift shut down in the late 1980s, the banks became clients of The BISYS Group Inc. and continued to work together on technology issues. Roslyn then acquired Roosevelt in 1999 and two years later NYCB acquired Richmond. It was fitting in a way that the four banks would be brought together when NYCB acquired Roslyn.

The advantages of NYCB and Roslyn joining forces were manifold. According to Crain's New York Business, the thrifts were "different in just the right places. New York Community excels at generating loans, while Roslyn is strong in deposit gathering. Moreover, the two have different strengths within commercial lending. Roslyn does extremely well at construction lending. ... New York Community is strong in making real estate loans to owners of rent-controlled buildings, a highly stable and dependable niche." According to American Banker, "Roslyn's hidden jewel is a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities that, when liquidated, could give New York Community cash flow to boost its real estate lending."

The Roslyn deal moved NYCB into a new level of prominence. Previously the eleventh largest holder of deposits in the New York region, it now only trailed J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. Moreover, with assets of more than $23.4 billion by the end of 2003, NYCB was now one the country's 50 largest banks.

Ficalora remained committed to pursuing a community banking approach, relying on long-term customer loyalty to familiar names. In early 2004 NYCB applied the Roslyn name to 30 CFS supermarket-based branches and a pair of Queens County branches in Nassau and Suffolk counties. It also revived the Roosevelt Savings name, which Roslyn had retired after acquiring the thrift, and used it on Brooklyn operations. Roosevelt's connection to the borough dated to 1895 when it was founded as Eastern District Savings Bank. It assumed the Roosevelt name in 1920 as a way to honor Theodore Roosevelt, former governor of New York and the 26th President of the United States.

Up for Sale in 2004

NYCB's spectacular growth made Ficalora something of a cult hero in some investment circles, but his reputation would be tarnished somewhat in 2004 when NYCB stumbled. It raised $400 million in a secondary stock offering in order to acquire GreenPoint Finance Corp., only to see Ficalora's old nemesis, North Fork, take the prize. In order to make use of the cash, Ficalora invested it along with short-term borrowings to buy $2.6 billion in securities. However, when interest rates increased, NYCB was exposed to significant losses. According to American Banker, "The leverage shocked investors when it was revealed in April." With a sudden loss in investor confidence, the price of its stock plummeted, and NYCB hired Bear Stearns Cos., Citigroup Inc., and Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP to consider strategic options, essentially putting itself up for sale. Although there was interest from a number of quarters, no bids were tempting enough for the bank to give up its independence. Instead, NYCB sold off investment securities to pay down debt, wrote off losses, and restructure its balance sheet. It was bitter medicine to swallow, but NYCB was soon ready to resume its growth. Now, however, it was looking at commercial lending, a move intended to offset declining profits in retail lending.

In 2005 NYCB used $69.8 million in stock to acquire commercial bank Long Island Financial Corp., founded in 1989 by former New York State Assembly speaker Perry B. Duryea, Jr. The firm became available after loan defaults caused net income in 2003 to drop by nearly 50 percent. Long Island Financial had $539.7 million in assets and operated 12 branches in Suffolk, Nassau, and Brooklyn. NYCB then renamed it New York Commercial Bank to form the foundation for a commercial banking unit. To bolster its push into commercial lending, NYCB agreed in October 2005 to pay $400 million for Atlantic Bank of New York, owned by the National Bank of Greece. In the deal that was still pending in 2006, New York Commercial Bank would add five branches in Queens and Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, four in Westchester County, and two on Long Island. Also of note, in 2005 NYCB launched a new banking brand, New York Community Bank, opening its first branch in the Co-Op City section of the Bronx.

Principal Divisions

New York Commercial Bank; New York Community Bank.

Principal Competitors

Astoria Financial Corporation; HSBC USA Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Related information about New York

pop (2000e) 18 976 500; area 127 185 km²/49 108 sq mi. State in NE USA, divided into 62 counties; the ‘Empire State’; second most populous state; one of the original states of the Union, 11th to ratify the Federal Constitution, 1788; explored by Hudson and Champlain, 1609; Dutch established posts near Albany, 1614, settled Manhattan, 1626; New Netherlands taken by the British, 1664; scene of several battles in the American Revolution (eg Saratoga); capital, Albany; other chief cities, New York City, Syracuse, Yonkers, Rochester, Buffalo; Hudson R flows S through the E state, St Lawrence R part of the N border, Delaware R part of the S border; Niagara Falls in W; Adirondack Mts rise in the N, Catskill Mts in the S; highest point in the Adirondacks at Mt Marcy (1629 m/5344 ft); state contains 11 334 km²/4375 sq mi of the Great Lakes, as well as L Oneida and the Finger Lakes in the C; extensive woodland and forest in the NE, elsewhere a mixture of cropland, pasture, and woodland; clothing, pharmaceuticals, publishing, electronics, automotive and aircraft components; dairy products, corn, beef; New York City the chief ethnically mixed centre of population in the USA.

text-align:center;">The Empire State

State animal	Beaver(Castor canadensis)
State bird	Eastern Bluebird(Sialia sialis)
State freshwater fish	Brook Trout
State saltwater fish	Striped Bass
State insect	Ladybug
State flower	Rose(Rosa)
State motto	"Excelsior!"
State song	"I Love New York"
State tree	Sugar Maple(Acer saccharum)
State fossil	Sea Scorpion(Eurypterus remipes)
State gem	Garnet
State beverage	Milk
State reptile	Snapping Turtle
State fruit	Apple
State shell	Bay Scallop
State muffin	Apple Muffin

New York is a state in the northeastern United States.

Geography

New York's borders touch (clockwise from the northwest) two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario, which are connected by the Niagara River); the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada; three New England states (Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut); the Atlantic Ocean, and two Mid-Atlantic states (New Jersey and Pennsylvania). In addition, Rhode Island shares a water border with New York.

New York is also the site of the only extra-territorial enclave within the boundaries of the U.S., the United Nations compound on Manhattan's East River.

The southern tip of New York State—New York City, its suburbs including Long Island, and the southern portion of the Hudson Valley—can be considered to form the central core of a "megalopolis," a super-city stretching from the northern suburbs of Boston to the southern suburbs of Jean Gottmann in 1961 as a new phenomenon in the history of world urbanization, the megalopolis is characterized by a coalescence of previous already-large cities of the Eastern Seaboard: a heavy specialization on tertiary activity related to government, trade, law, education, finance, publishing and control of economic activity; Several other groups of megalopolis-type super-cities exist in the world, but that centered around New York City was the first described and still is the best example.

While the state is best known for New York City's urban atmosphere, especially Manhattan's skyscrapers, most of the state is in fact dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. New York's Adirondack State Park is larger than any U.S. National Park outside of Alaska. The Hudson River begins with Lake Tear of the Clouds and flows south through the eastern part of the state without draining Lakes George or Champlain. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on the three islands at the mouth of the Hudson River: Manhattan Island, Staten Island, and Long Island.

"Upstate" is a common term for New York State counties north of suburban Westchester and Rockland counties. Upstate New York typically includes the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains, the Shawangunk Ridge, the Finger Lakes and the Great Lakes in the west; and Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Oneida Lake in the northeast; and rivers such as the Delaware, Genesee, Hudson, Mohawk, and Susquehanna. Lenape in canoes met Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first European explorer to enter New York Harbor, in 1524. Giovanni da Verrazzano named this place New Angouleme (Nouvelle Angoulême in french) in the honor of the French king Francis I ('François 1er' in french).
(Believed to be after this event) A French explorer and mapper, Samuel de Champlain, described his explorations through New York in 1608. A year later Henry Hudson, an Englishman working for the Dutch, claimed the area in the name of the Netherlands.

Early settlement

The first European settlers in the area now known as the State of New York were Dutch settlers in the colony known as New Amsterdam, beginning in 1613. The English traded the modern-day country of Suriname for New Amsterdam in 1664; The colony, then called the Province of New York, was divided into twelve counties, each of which was subdivided into towns. Two of New York's eastern coastal counties, Cornwall and Dukes, later became parts of Massachusetts and Maine.

Statehood

New York was one of the original thirteen colonies that became the United States. It was the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution, on July 26, 1788.

Origin

The Dutch, who began to establish trading-posts on the Hudson River in 1613, claimed jurisdiction over the territory between the Connecticut and the Delaware Rivers, which they called New Netherlands. The government was vested in "The United New Netherland Company," chartered in 1614, and then in "The Dutch West India Company," chartered in 1622.

In 1649, a convention of the settlers petitioned the "Lords States-General of the United Netherlands" to grant them "suitable burgher government, such as their High Mightinesses shall consider adapted to this province, and resembling somewhat the government of our Fatherland," with certain permanent privileges and exemptions, that they might pursue "the trade of our country, as well along the coast from Terra Nova to Cape Florida as to the West Indies and Europe, whenever our Lord God shall be pleased to permit."

The directors of the West India Company resented this attempt to shake their rule and wrote their director and council at New Amsterdam: "We have already connived as much as possible at the many impertinences of some restless spirits, in the hope that they might be shamed by our discreetness and benevolence, but, perceiving that all kindnesses do not avail, we must, therefore, have recourse to God to Nature and the Law. We accordingly hereby charge and command your Honors whenever you shall certainly discover any Clandestine Meetings, Conventicles or machinations against our States government or that of our country that you proceed against such malignants in proportion to their crimes."

These grants embraced all the lands between the west bank of the Connecticut River and the east bank of the Delaware.

The Duke of York previously purchased in 1663 the grant of Long Island and other islands on the New England coast made in 1635 to the Earl of Stirling, and in 1664 he equipped an armed expedition which took possession of New Amsterdam, which was thenceforth called New York. This constitution was framed by a convention which assembled at White Plains, New York on July 10, 1776, and after repeated adjournments and changes of location, terminated its labors at Kingston, New York on Sunday evening, April 20, 1777, when the constitution was adopted with but one dissenting vote. This imbalance of power between the branches of state government kept the elite firmly in control, and disenfranchised most New Yorkers who would fight the Revolutionary War. Slavery was legal in New York until 1827.

Under this constitution, the Assembly had a provision for a maximum of 70 Members, with the following apportionment:

For the city (at the time, New York City included only what is today Manhattan) and county of New York, nine.
The city and county of Albany, ten
The county of Dutchess, seven.
The county of Westchester, six.
The county of Ulster, six.
The county of Suffolk (eastern Long Island), five.
The county of Queens (Now Queens and Nassau Counties), four.
The county of Orange (Now Orange and Rockland Counties), four.
The county of Kings (Brooklyn), two.
The county of Richmond (Staten Island), two.
Tryon County (Now Montgomery County), six.
Charlotte County (Now Washington County.), four.
Cumberland County (Partitioned January 15, 1777 for the creation of the State of Vermont.), three.
Gloucester County (Partitioned January 15, 1777 for the creation of the State of Vermont.), two.

This apportionment was to stand unchanged until a period of seven years from the end of the Revolution had expired, whereupon a census was held to correct the apportionment.

On the subject of Disenfranchisement, Article VII of the new constitution had the following to say:

VII. if, during the time aforesaid, he shall have been a freeholder, possessing a freehold of the value of twenty pounds, within the said county, or have rented a tenement therein of the yearly value of forty shillings, and been rated and actually paid taxes to this State: Provided always, That every person who now is a freeman of the city of Albany, or who was made a freeman of the city of New York on or before the fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and shall be actually and usually resident in the said cities, respectively, shall be entitled to vote for representatives in assembly within his said place of residence.

For more information on this constitution, see: New York State Constitutions

Westward expansion

The western part of New York had been settled by the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy for at least 500 years before Europeans came. The Sullivan Expedition moved northward through the Finger Lakes and Genesee Country, burning all the Iroquois communities and destroying their crops and orchards. The Hudson and Mohawk Rivers could be navigated only as far as Central New York. While the St. Lawrence River could be navigated to Lake Ontario, the way westward to the other Great Lakes was blocked by Niagara Falls, and so the only route to western New York was over land. Governor DeWitt Clinton strongly advocated building a canal to connect the Hudson River with Lake Erie, and thus all the Great Lakes. The Welland Canal was completed in 1833, bypassing Niagara Falls to connect Lakes Ontario and Erie.

Sullivan's men returned from the campaign to Pennsylvania and New England to tell of the enormous wealth of this new territory.

Demographics

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2005, New York was the third largest state in population after California and Texas, with an estimated population of 19,254,630 factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFPopulation?_event=Search&_name=&_state=04000US36&_county=&_cityTown=&_zip=&_sse=on&_lang=en&pctxt=fph, which is an increase of 27,542, or 0.1%, from the prior year and an increase of 277,809, or 1.5%, since the year 2000.

The top ancestry groups in New York are African American (15.8%), Italian (14.4%), Irish (12.9%), and German (11.1%),

New York contains the country's largest Dominican population (concentrated in Upper Manhattan) and largest Puerto Rican population (concentrated in the Bronx). Brooklyn and the Bronx are home to many African-Americans and Queens has a large population of Latin American origin, as well as the state's largest Asian-American population.

The 2000 Census revealed which ancestries were in which counties. Italian-Americans make up the largest ancestral group in Staten Island and Long Island, followed by Irish-Americans. According to the July 1, 2004 Census Bureau Estimatefactfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US36&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-T1&-ds_name=PEP_2004_EST&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-mt_name=PEP_2004_EST_GCTT1_ST2&-format=ST-2&-_sse=on, New York City and its six closest New York State satellite counties (Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange) have a combined population of 12,626,200 people, or 65.67% of the state's population.

New York State has a higher number of Italian-Americans than any other U.S. state.

Religion

As of 2006, the religious affiliations of New York citizens were:

40.0% Protestant,

38.9% Roman Catholic,

7.3% Baptist,

6.1% Methodist,

5.5% Episcopal,

3.2% Presbyterian,

17.9% Non-religious

3.4% Jewish,

2.0% Muslim,

The Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan contains the shrine and burial place of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (Mother Cabrini), the patron saint of immigrants and the first American citizen to be canonized.

At Chautauqua Lake in the southwestern portion of the state is the Chautauqua Institution, co-founded by Methodist Reverend John Vincent and devoted to adult continuing education in an uplifting setting, as that ambiance was understood in the last half of the Nineteenth Century. While some aspects of this pedagogy may seem quaint today, the Institution helped assure that high intellectual achievement would be recognized as consistent with the value system of an emerging powerful Midwest, and was one of several ways that Upstate New York served between the Civil War and World War II as a transmitting intermediary between the standards of the East Coast and the interior agricultural regions of the central states.

Important cities and towns

New York City is both the largest city in the United States, and home to over two-fifths of the population of the entire state. It is the leading center of banking, finance and communication in the United States and is the location of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wall Street, Manhattan. Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that in 2004, the total gross state product was $963.5 billionwww.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/gspnewsrelease.htm, ranking 3rd behind California and Texas. New York's agricultural outputs are dairy products, cattle and other livestock, vegetables, nursery stock, and apples. Its industrial outputs are printing and publishing, scientific instruments, electric equipment, machinery, chemical products, and tourism.

Many of the world's largest corporations locate their headquarter's home offices in Manhattan or in nearby Westchester County, New York. The Fulton Fish Market has been moved from Fulton Street in Manhattan to The Bronx.

New York's mining sector is concentrated in three areas.

Agriculture

New York State is an agricultural leader, ranking within the top five states for agricultural products including dairy, apples, cherries, cabbages, potatoes, onions, maple syrup and many others. The south shore of Lake Ontario provides the right mix of soils and microclimate for many apple, cherry, plum, pear and peach orchards. The state has 30,000 acres (120 km²) of vineyards, 212 wineries, and produced 200 million bottles of wine in 2004.

New York was heavily glaciated in the ice age leaving much of the state with deep, fertile, though somewhat rocky soils. Row crops, including hay, corn, wheat, oats, barley, and soybeans, are grown. Particularly in the western part of the state, sweet corn, peas, carrots, squash, cucumbers and other vegetables are grown. The glaciers also left numerous swampy areas, which have been drained for the rich humus soils called muckland which is mostly used for onions, potatoes, celery and other vegetables. Cheese is a major product, often produced by Amish or Mennonite farm cheeseries. The honeybees are also used for pollination of fruits and vegetables. Most commercial beekeepers are migratory, taking their hives to southern states for the winter. Buffalo also has a lightrailsystem, and Rochester had a subway system, although it is mostly destroyed. Only a small part exists under the old Erie Canal Aquaduct.

New York City

New York City is home to the most complex and extensive transportation network in the United States, with more than 12,000 iconic yellow cabs, 120,000 daily bicyclists, a massive subway system, bus and railroad systems, immense airports, landmark bridges and tunnels, ferry service and even an aerial commuter tramway. About one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in New York and its suburbs.

Many suburban commuter railroad lines enter and leave New York City, including the Long Island Rail Road, MTA Metro-North, the PATH system and many of NJTransit's rail services.

Law and government

As in all fifty states, the head of the executive branch of government is a Governor. The legislative branch is called the Legislature and consists of a Senate and an Assembly. Unlike most states, the New York electoral law permits electoral fusion, and New York ballots tend to have, in consequence, a larger number of parties on them, some being permanent minor parties that seek to influence the major parties and others being ephemeral parties formed to give major-party candidates an additional line on the ballot.

New York's legislature is notoriously dysfunctional. Other officially incorporated governmental units are towns, cities, and villages.

Many of New York's public services are carried out by public benefit corporations, frequently known as authorities or development corporations. The most famous examples are probably the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees New York City's subway, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (actually a bi-state agency). New York State has its counties pay a higher percentage of welfare costs than any other state, and New York State is the only state which requires counties to pay a portion of Medicaid.

The court system in New York is often cited as assigning unintuitive names to its courts: the New York Supreme Court, which people often assume is "supreme" in the same sense as the Supreme Court of the United States, is not the highest court in the state (the New York Court of Appeals is). These courts are the starting point for all criminal cases outside cities, and handle a variety of other matters including small claims, traffic ticket cases and local zoning matters. Presidential candidate John Kerry won New York State by 18 percentage points in 2004, while Al Gore had an even bigger margin of a win in New York State in 2000. Many of the state's other urban areas, including Albany, Ithica, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuseare also Democratic. Heavily populated suburban areas such as Westchester County and Long Island usually hold the power in determining state elections and have tended to favor Republicans at the state level and Democrats at the federal level but that trend seems to be changing since the past few elections, with Democrats picking up some more power statewide in both regions.

Because New York State consistently votes Democratic in national elections, many observers argue the state is insignificant in presidential contests.

Education

Primary, middle-level, and secondary education

The University of the State of New York (USNY), its policy-setting Board of Regents, and USNY's administrative arm, the New York State Education Department (NYSED), oversee all public primary, middle-level, and secondary education in the state. However, as is found in most other US states, individual school districts in New York have much latitude in exercising management and policy for such education within their district boundaries.

New York is one of seven states that mandates that Holocaust and genocide studies be taught at some point in elementary or secondary schools' curriculum. New York City operates the City University of New York (CUNY) in conjunction with the state.

New York's land-grant university is Cornell University, a private university.

New York is the nation?s largest importer of college students, according to statistics which show that among freshmen who leave their home states to attend college, more come to New York than any other state, including California.The New York Observer. www.observer.com/printpage.asp?iid=13093&ic=Editorials

See also Education in New York City, list of Colleges and Universities in the State of New York

Professional sports teams

Club	Sport	League
Buffalo Bills	Football	National Football League
New York Jets	Football	National Football League;(plays in East Rutherford, New Jersey)
New York Giants	Football	National Football League;(plays in East Rutherford, New Jersey)
New York Knicks	Basketball	National Basketball Association
New Jersey Nets	Basketball	National Basketball Association;(plays in East Rutherford, New Jersey - planning move to the Brooklyn Nets Arena at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn)
New York Liberty	Basketball	Women's National Basketball Association
Rochester Raging Rhinos	Soccer	USL First Division
Red Bull New York	Soccer	Major League Soccer;(plays in East Rutherford, New Jersey)
Buffalo Sabres	Ice Hockey	National Hockey League
New York Islanders	Ice Hockey	National Hockey League
New York Rangers	Ice Hockey	National Hockey League
Adirondack Frostbite	Ice Hockey	United Hockey League
Albany River Rats	Ice Hockey	American Hockey League
Binghamton Senators	Ice Hockey	American Hockey League
Elmira Jackals	Ice Hockey	United Hockey League
Rochester Americans	Ice Hockey	American Hockey League
Syracuse Crunch	Ice Hockey	American Hockey League
New York Mets	Baseball	Major League Baseball

New York Yankees	Baseball	Major League Baseball
Brooklyn Cyclones	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Staten Island Yankees	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Binghamton Mets	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Buffalo Bisons	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Jamestown Jammers	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Batavia Muckdogs	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Rochester Red Wings	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Auburn Doubledays	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Syracuse SkyChiefs	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Oneonta Tigers	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Tri-City Valley Cats	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Hudson Valley Renegades	Baseball	Minor League Baseball
Long Island Ducks	Baseball	Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
New York Dragons	Arena football	Arena Football League
Long Island Lizards	Lacrosse	Major League Lacrosse
Rochester Rattlers	Lacrosse	Major League Lacrosse
Buffalo Bandits	Lacrosse	National Lacrosse League
Rochester Knighthawks	Lacrosse	National Lacrosse League
New York Titans	Lacrosse	National Lacrosse League
Brooklyn Wonders	Basketball	American Basketball Association
Buffalo Silverbacks	Basketball	American Basketball Association
Rochester Razorsharks	Basketball	American Basketball Association
Strong Island Sound	Basketball	American Basketball Association
Albany Patroons	Basketball	Continental Basketball Association

Navy vessel namesakes

There have been at least five United States Navy ships named USS New York in honor of the state. USS New York (LPD-21) was laid down on September 10 2004 and will be the sixth Navy ship to be named for the state.

References

Chronology

Key Dates
1859 Queens County Savings Bank is chartered.
1993 Queens County Bancorp is incorporated.
2000 Haven Bancorp is acquired and the name is changed to New York Community Bancorp.
2001 Richmond County Financial Corporation is acquired.
2003 Roslyn Savings Bank is acquired.
2005 Long Island Financial Corporation is acquired; the name is changed to New York Commercial Bank.

Additional topics

Company HistoryFinance: Holding Companies

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