EXHIBIT31.1

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

I, David T. Hamamoto, certify that:

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| 1.  | I have reviewed this quarterly reporton Form 10-Q of NorthStar Realty Finance Corp.; |

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| 2.  | Based on my knowledge, this reportdoes not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit tostate a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in lightof the circumstances under which such statements were made, notmisleading with respect to the period covered by this report; |

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| 3.  | Based on my knowledge, the financialstatements, 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; |

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| 4.  | The registrant's othercertifying officer and I are responsible for establishing andmaintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in ExchangeAct Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have: |

(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, orcaused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under oursupervision, to ensure that material information relating to theregistrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known tous by others within those entities, particularly during the period inwhich this report is being prepared;

(b) Evaluated theeffectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls andprocedures and presented in this report our conclusions about theeffectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the endof the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

(c) Disclosed in this report any change in theregistrant's internal control over financial reporting thatoccurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (theregistrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annualreport) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely tomaterially affect, the registrant's internal control overfinancial reporting; and

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| 5.  | Theregistrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, basedon our most recent evaluation of internal control over financialreporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committeeof registrant's board of directors (or persons performing theequivalent functions): |

(a) All significant deficienciesand material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controlover financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adverselyaffect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize andreport financial information; and

(b) Any fraud, whetheror not material, that involves management or other employees who have asignificant role in the registrant's internal control overfinancial reporting.

Date: May 12, 2005

|  | By:/s/ David T. Hamamoto        Name: David T.Hamamoto        Title: Chief ExecutiveOfficer |
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