|                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
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|Exhibit 31.1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
|                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
|CERTIFICATION
I, Louis J. Cappelli, certify that:
1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 of Sterling
Bancorp (the Company);
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 Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The Company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 Company 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 Company,
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 Company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 Companys internal control over financial reporting
that occurred during the Companys most recent fiscal quarter (the Companys fourth fiscal
quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
materially affect, the Companys internal control over financial reporting; and
5. The Companys other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation
of internal control over financial reporting, to the Companys auditors and the audit committee
of the Companys board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):
(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control
over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company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 Companys internal control over financial reporting.
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| | Date: November 9, 2007                                                 
| | -----------------------------------------------------------------------
| |                                                                        
| | /s/ Louis J. Cappelli                                                  
| |                                                                        
| | Name:  Louis J. Cappelli
Title:    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

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