Either that, or I could go to a local check cashing service and get charged. Because Citigroup, the bank's parent company, has the statewide contract to manage the electronic distribution of welfare benefits, welfare recipients must either use their machines or pay a fee at other ATMs or check cashers. That arrangement has come under fire from both recipients and advocates, who point out that many poor neighborhoods don't have a Citibank ATM anywhere nearby. Williamsburg's ZIP code has 7,489 welfare recipients, but the nearest Citibank is about a mile and a half away. This new ATM, installed in Echo Drug on Broadway, was one of 25 that Citigroup promised to site citywide in areas with a lot of welfare recipients and few Citibank machines.
Advocates say that the process of getting the bank to follow through was arduous.
It's something very tangible and concrete. For drugstore owner Lev Rifkin, it's also a good business decision. We have a very successful store, and it would be proper to do something in return for the community. Fleming and Kathleen McGowan Back to City Limits Weekly Index. Assn of the Bar of City of NY forum on the crisis in legal representation for poor people in Family Court.