New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, joined by Bronx elected officials, presents a check of unclaimed funds to the Bronx Museum of the Arts on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023.
Photo courtesy Mary Mueller
The New York state comptroller found more than $445 million in unclaimed funds in the Bronx, according to a recent announcement by the office.
The money was revealed after the comptroller released a Nov. 28 report that detailed economic conditions in the borough — including the business “revitalization” of the South Bronx despite disproportionate COVID-19 pandemic challenges.
According to Matthew Sweeney, the deputy director of communications for the office — the State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found $445.3 million in unclaimed funds boroughwide, spanning more than 644,000 separate accounts. Those accounts include each unclaimed amount with addresses in the Bronx.
“For example, if an individual moved without forwarding mail to their new address and they missed out on a paycheck, a health insurance reimbursement, and had a registered gift card that still had money on it, there would be three separate accounts in their name at their old address,” Sweeney said.
There are more than 1,000 accounts either with Bronx addresses or business titles that are missing money, according to search results from the state comptroller’s website — from auto shops and churches to medical centers and schools. The office has already reimbursed the Bronx Museum in the amount of $2,190, as well as the Bronx Chamber of Commerce for $543.
The Bronx ranks fourth across all New York City boroughs for the highest amount of missing money, following Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens — which have around $2 billion, $1 billion and $878 million in unclaimed funds, respectively. Staten Island sits a distant fifth with just more than $120 million in missing funds. Sweeney said statewide, unclaimed funds date all the way back to the 1940s.
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