New Yorkers Won’t Line Up--Even for a $6 Bank Giveaway
NEW YORK — A New York bank gave away money to celebrate its 60th birthday today, and there was hardly any waiting, and no pushing or shoving.
Maybe it was because the rules were kind of complicated or maybe New Yorkers just don’t wait in lines for anything, not even a chance to get $60 by handing a teller $54.
The Sterling National Bank at 55th Street and Madison Avenue gave $60 to the first 60 people 60 years of age or older who handed the teller $54.
“We are selling money at a discount,” said bank president Theodore Silbert.
Despite an advertisement in the New York Times and media publicity, only about 60 people lined up for the giveaway. Women did not have to show proof of age, and one woman said she was surprised at how easy it was.
“I gave the teller my passport and he handed it back without looking at it. I didn’t have to wait or anything,” she said, declining to give her name or age.
Silbert said the bank staged a similar giveaway in 1979 to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
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