Senior (Life)Style with Eileen O’Brien

By Eileen O’Brien

If I stopped twenty seniors on the street and asked them to name one institution that they have been involved with, known for a long time, and trust, I bet I would receive twenty different responses and then some. Religious, cultural, civic, fraternal, scientific, environmental, educational societal pillars to name just a few that would immediately come to mind. But I’m willing to bet that no one would mention a BANK. Except maybe me.

Over sixty five years ago, my very Catholic Grammar School in Brooklyn, N. Y. introduced a plan to encourage their young charges to plan for their futures by opening up their very own savings accounts. The institution selected was named the Lincoln Savings Bank. The building the Lincoln Savings Bank was situated in was an iconic art deco structure built in 1934. And it was way beyond impressive!  Marble floors, stone pillars-two stories high, a basement with golden metal drawers that were only available to select bank customers. As soon as you entered the bank, you felt a cool breeze, your footsteps echoed as you walked to a teller’s station to be greeted by a smiling professionally dressed and perfectly coiffed female whose absolute pleasure was to receive or give you money since you were a bank customer! Unfortunately, not all good things last and so it was with the Lincoln Savings Bank which closed sixty years later in 1995 following an acquisition by the new kid on the block, Anchor Saving Bank. Long before the Lincoln Savings Bank closing, this writer had moved on to a newer less beautiful but more trendy version of banking with all the bells and whistles of checking accounts, credit cards, loan managers, multiple locations which were all part of a company called Manufactures Hanover Trust Co., (AKA “Manny Hanny”) which at its peak was the fourth largest bank in the United States. But times they were a changing and so in 1991 my “Manny Hanny” was acquired by Chemical Bank. Never liked the name “Chemical Bank” which sounded like some sort of an experiment with my money! Then in 1996 before I had a chance to find a new bank, Chemical merged with Chase Manhattan and this new institution had even more branches everywhere. Lucky for me, as a new home owner in Rockland in 1996, I discovered a small and welcoming Chase branch in Valley Cottage right on Rte. 303, which, thank my lucky stars, I had the good fortune to wander into. Thirty years later, this particular branch continues to be my wing person in all the curves that life has thrown at me. Throughout the years, despite retirements, promotions, job transfers, the staff at this bank, like the sitcom “Cheers”, (“Where everyone knows your name”), has remained constant in their efforts to help “their people.” Even after the most recent merger with JP Morgan in 2000, now JP Morgan Chase, my little bank that could continued, in my opinion, to be the welcoming and trusted institution from my childhood… Until that changed in April, 2026 when I got the call.

The call was from my trusted  JP Morgan Chase bank officer informing me that my decades old wonderful and reliable institution was doing away with their safety deposit box service. It was a gut punch. It felt like a betrayal from an old and trusted friend. I listened as I was told about the other local Chase branches that had already closed down their safety deposit box service. Other reasons I uncovered when I started to do research was that the younger generation no longer values the need for this service. The Millennials, Gen X’s, Gen  Z’s and whatever the next group is about to be called can purchase home safes or digitally save whatever is important to them and their families. Banks in the UK such as HSBC and Barclays have already exited from this service. This current  “legacy service”, which became very popular in America in 1865 with the Francis Jenks’ invention of the two key system, is now, from a present day corporate perspective, too space intensive, too staff time consuming and most important of all, no longer profitable to be allowed to exist! But what about the security needs of Baby Boomers, who are split into “Leading Edge Boomers” (Born 1946-1954) and “Late Boomers” (Born 1955-1964), who by the way, comprise the largest number of safety deposit box owners in 2026?  

I could list all the reasons, pros and cons, regarding the continued existence of safety deposit boxes for my Seniors in New City, Congers, Monsey, Valley Cottage, Suffern, Spring Valley, Hillcrest, Orangeburg, Tallman and all the other areas in Rockland County that JP Morgan Chase Banks service but I am pleading, no, I am begging, that Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, consider a moratorium on closing this lifeline for seniors. I know a workable solution can be accomplished that supports the seniors and continues my own personal decades old trusting relationship with an institution that started at the tender age of ten at the Lincoln Savings Bank, (Brooklyn, N. Y.), which now, by the way, is a branch of JP Morgan Chase!

In this semiquincentennial year, the 250 year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I have faith that Mr. Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase will help Rockland Seniors maintain their independence by allowing us to keep our safety deposit boxes, since awareness of our plight is the first step towards meaningful change. I’m counting, as always, on you JP Morgan Chase to take a heroic step and lead by example to stand with your seniors to keep us safe.