Exhibit 31.1

                                  CERTIFICATION


I, George W. Matteo, Jr., certify that:

1.            I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Cornerstone
              Financial Corporation;

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 consolidated 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 15d-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 (the registrant's fourth
              fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) 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.


Date:  March 30, 2009                      By: /s/ George W. Matteo, Jr.
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           George W. Matteo, Jr.
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer
                                           Principal Executive Officer