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, 2008 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: November 7, 2008/s/ Louis J. CappelliName:
Louis J. CappelliTitle:
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 48