He'll Take Manhattan.

Disdainful of his rivals, Vern Hill, CEO of New Jersey's Commerce Bancorp, is plunging into the New York City retail banking market. He is determined to beat the world's biggest banks in their own backyard, and then to move north to Boston. by Jack Milligan

One December day last year, Dennis DiFlorio staked out several unsuspecting bank branches in Manhattan. DiFlorio is not a bank robber-although some of his competitors might argue that point. He wanted to see what kind of service the big New York banks were providing and was shocked by what he found. "I ran into