Exhibit 31.1

                    Certification of Chief Executive Officer
            Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Richard P. McStravick, President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

1.    I have  reviewed  this  quarterly  report  on Form  10-Q of Sound  Federal
      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 15(d)-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 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 the registrant's
      board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

      (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 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.

August 8, 2005                             /s/ Richard P. McStravick
--------------                             -------------------------------------
Date                                       Richard P. McStravick
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer