The bank was founded in 1850 by 18 members of the Irish Emigrant Society, with the support of
Archbishop John Hughes, with the goal of serving the needs of the Irish community in
New York City. The headquarters was located at on 49
Chambers Street in Manhattan. Emigrant Savings collected extensive records of the arriving Irish immigrants to America, which were later donated to the
New York Public Library and serve as valuable genealogical resources. Emigrant Savings Bank also had customers from numerous other immigrant communities, including those from Eastern and Northern Europe. In 1986, the Emigrant Savings Bank
converted from a mutual to a stock savings bank following several years of losses. On September 10, 2003, Emigrant Bank, in conjunction with the private equity firm The Courtney Group, acquired the
Boylan Bottling Company. It represented the first transaction in the beverages sector for the two purchasers, and their first in New Jersey, which at the time was the home of Boylan's
Teterboro headquarters. As part of the deal, Emigrant Capital executive-in-residence Val Stalowir joined Boylan’s board of directors.
Howard Milstein is chairman, president, and chief executive officer of
New York Private Bank & Trust, the
bank holding company for Emigrant Bank. He has run the bank since 2004. Due to the
2008 financial crisis, Emigrant Bank sold 30 of its branches to
Apple Bank in 2012. Two branches were retained, one in midtown
Manhattan and one in
Ossining, New York. In 2016, a Brooklyn jury found Emigrant Bank to have targeted minorities with predatory mortgages with rates of up to 18 percent. ==Gallery==