December 31, 2008

The bank runs that regulators feared when they announced plans for an economic bailout in September brought to mind mobs of frantic customers swarming local banks, withdrawing all their deposits.

But that terminology took on a different meaning on Monday when banks across New York City were deluged by abrupt withdrawals of another kind: robberies. In what may be the latest sign of the harsh economic times, five banks in four boroughs were robbed on Monday, four of them within an hour and a half.