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 June 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. Date:
        August 9, 2007/s/
            Louis J. CappelliName:
        Louis
            J. CappelliTitle:
        Chairman
            and Chief Executive Officer
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