Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › New York › Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York
What happened to Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York?
Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York in Woodside, NY was merged into Astoria Bank of Long Island City, NY with federal assistance on Feb 28, 1979. After 3 more changes of hands, what was Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York is today part of Santander Bank, N.A. (Wilmington, DE).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1919Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York opens in Woodside, NY
- Feb 28, 1979ASSISTED MERGERCitizens Savings and Loan Association of New York was merged into Astoria Bank of Long Island City, NY with federal assistance.FDIC certificate 28474 ends; its business continues under certificate 29805.
- Oct 2, 2017MERGEDAstoria Bank of Long Island City, NY merged into Sterling National Bank of Pearl River, NY.FDIC certificate 29805 ends; its business continues under certificate 30337.
- Feb 1, 2022MERGEDSterling National Bank of Pearl River, NY merged into Webster Bank, National Association of Stamford, CT.FDIC certificate 30337 ends; its business continues under certificate 18221.
- Aug 20, 2026MERGEDWebster Bank, National Association of Stamford, CT merged into Santander Bank, N.A. of Wilmington, DE.FDIC certificate 18221 ends; its business continues under certificate 29950.
- TodayOPEN
Santander Bank, N.A.Main office Wilmington, DE · FDIC certificate 29950 · 368 offices in 9 states on June 30, 2026Every Santander Bank, N.A. office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.santander.com
If you still have something from Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York as lienholder, start with Santander Bank, N.A.. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York was merged with federal assistance on Feb 28, 1979. The FDIC's limit on lien releases is for mergers without government assistance, so FDIC Resolution Inquiries (888-206-4662, 8am–4pm Central, weekdays) can tell you whether it holds anything for this bank.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask Santander Bank, N.A. to search for the account under the name Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask Santander Bank, N.A. which branch now holds boxes from the Citizens Savings and Loan Association of New York office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 28474 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.