To Meet the Financial Needs of Local Business Owners and Professionals,

The Bank Opens its First Brooklyn Location

NEW YORK, March 12 /PRNewswire/ --

The Bank of New York announced today the opening of its Business and Professional Financial Center, at 188 Montague

Run by an experienced team of business specialists, the Business and Professional Center provides a full range of business and personal banking, credit, mortgage, investment management, retirement, and employee benefit services.

Gregory J. Fusilli, senior vice president, and head of The Bank of New York's Retail Product Strategy and Delivery Department, said, "The Brooklyn Business and Professional Financial Center is exclusively designed to help local business owners and professionals define and implement their business and personal financial strategies. The Center will provide integrated financial services to help them grow and manage their businesses, and to plan for their long-term personal financial security."

The Center has a computer workstation equipped with the latest internet capabilities where clients can obtain current information about The Bank of New York's products and services, as well as financial news and stock quotes. In addition, as the local business base grows, there will be networking access to other business clients in the Brooklyn community.

The new office is a fully automated facility capable of accepting deposits via standard ATMs with "Night Drop" capacity. The ATMs in the lobby are available 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week. During branch hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, the Brooklyn site is staffed by experienced business bankers who act as calling officers and relationship managers, and personal banking representatives to provide customer service and administrative support services. Business and professional loan services, and residential and commercial mortgages are available on-site. In addition, a full range of investment and employee benefit services are offered through The Bank of New York's wholly-owned subsidiary, BNY Investment Center.

John Pugliese, executive vice president and head of retail banking, said, "The Business and Professional Financial Center offers clients the choice of electronic convenience and direct access to information as well as personal service. They can access The Bank of New York's comprehensive range of competitive checking, savings, business financing, cash management, insurance, mortgage, retirement, and investment options for their businesses, families, and employees. In the truest sense of the term, we are a single resource for effective financial and investment solutions for business owners and professionals."

The Bank of New York was founded in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton and is the nation's oldest bank. It is the principal subsidiary of The Bank of New York Company, Inc. (NYSE: BK), a financial holding company. With over $77 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2000, the Company provides a complete range of banking and other financial services to corporations and individuals worldwide through its basic businesses, namely, Securities Servicing and Global Payment Services, Corporate Banking, BNY Asset Management and Private Client Services, Retail Banking, and Financial Market Services. Additional information on the Company is available at http://www.bankofny.com.