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 March 31, 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. Date: May 10, 2007/s/ Louis J. CappelliName: Louis J. CappelliTitle:   Chairman
  and Chief Executive Officer 38