“In the current wave of failures of federally insured banks, none occurred in New York City until late last week, when two small Manhattan financial institutions went under, with each collapse notable in its own way. The chief executive of Park Avenue Bank, which was seized by regulators Friday, was arrested Monday, charged with embezzlement, bribery and fraud, including lying in an application for the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. … the other New York bank that failed, LibertyPointe Bank, was seized Thursday. Because most of LibertyPointe’s employees, like its customers, were Orthodox Jews, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took action late Thursday to avoid doing so during the Jewish Sabbath, which begins at sundown Friday.” (03/15/10)