Some 125 Maspeth residents came to the SelfHelp Maspeth Senior Center on September 24th to find out that New York State was holding money for them - and 33 of them will soon be receiving it. Assemblywoman Marge Markey and Councilman Joe Addabbo brought George Paralemos of NY State Comptroller’s office to Maspeth where he set up a portable office, found out which Queens residents had unclaimed funds being held for them and helped them file a claim to receive it.

"I want to thank Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for making this service available to the people of Maspeth and I am pleased to sponsor this opportunity to return money to its rightful owners," said Assemblywoman Markey.

Councilman Addabbo said: "This is a great opportunity to take care of some financial housekeeping in the convenience of our community. Life often moves at lightning speed and a simple oversight can result in lost or neglected funds. In these tough economic times we need to take advantage of every resource: a few extra dollars could make all the difference."

Comptroller DiNapoli said: "New York has $9 billion in unclaimed fund accounts. Assemblywoman Markey and Councilman Addabbo are helping us return this money to its rightful owners."

He explained that State law requires banks, insurance companies, utilities, and other businesses to turn dormant savings accounts, unclaimed insurance and stock dividends, unrefunded deposits and other inactive holdings over to the State Comptroller’s office, which holds the money as custodian for the actual owner or their heirs. Last year, the Comptroller’s office paid out approximately $194 million to 268,000 account holders. Approximately 60 percent of those claims were $100 or less.