CERTIFICATION

      I, John A. Celentano, Jr. Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive
Officer of Clifton Savings Bancorp, Inc. certify that:

      1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report of Clifton Savings Bancorp,
           Inc.;

      2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
           statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
           necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
           under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
           the period covered by this report;

      3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
           information included in this report, fairly present in all material
           respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
           flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
           report;

      4.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
           establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
           defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15)(e)) and internal
           control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
           13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

           (a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                 such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                 our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                 to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
                 made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                 during the period in which this report is being prepared;

           (b)   Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
                 caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
                 designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
                 regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the
                 preparation of financial statements for external purposes in
                 accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

           (c)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                 controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                 conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                 and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                 report based on such evaluation; and

           (d)   Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                 internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                 the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's
                 fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
                 materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                 affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
                 reporting; and

      5.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
           on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
           reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
           registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
           functions):

           (a)   All significant deficiencies and material weakness in the
                 design or operation of internal control over financial
                 reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                 registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                 financial information; and

           (b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
                 other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
                 internal control over financial reporting.


Date: November 7, 2006         /s/ John A. Celentano, Jr.
                               -------------------------------------------------
                               John A. Celentano, Jr.
                               Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
                               (principal executive officer)