Sterling Bancorp Names Carolyn Joy Lee to Board of Directors

NEW YORK, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL),
parent company of New York City-based Sterling National Bank, today announced
the appointment of Carolyn Joy Lee to the Boards of Directors of Sterling
Bancorp and its bank subsidiary. Ms. Lee's appointment increases the size of
the Sterling Bancorp Board of Directors to 10 members.

Ms. Lee is a partner in the New York office of Jones Day, a global law firm
with more than 2,400 lawyers in 32 locations, which represents more than half
of the Fortune 500. She is widely recognized for her expertise in state and
local taxation, particularly with respect to mergers, acquisitions and other
transactions, restructuring, taxation of special entities, and tax planning
for high net worth individuals. Ms. Lee has served as chair of the Tax
Section of the New York State Bar Association and as chair of the State and
Local Tax Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Having served as a member of various New York State and New York City
tax-related advisory panels, she is a coauthor of several publications and a
frequent speaker on topics relating to state and local taxation.

"We are pleased to welcome Carolyn Joy Lee to Sterling's Board of Directors,
and we look forward to benefiting from her experience and insights. Her
presence will be a valuable complement to the talent, acumen and
professionalism of our existing Board members," stated Louis J. Cappelli,
Sterling Bancorp's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Ms. Lee earned a B.A. degree with honors from The Johns Hopkins University and
received her J.D. degree from the Columbia University School of Law, where she
was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. She was admitted to the Bar of the State of
New York in 1981.

About Sterling Bancorp

Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL) is a New York-based banking and financial
services company with assets of $2.1 billion. Established in 1929, the
Company's principal banking subsidiary, Sterling National Bank, has
successfully served the needs of businesses, professionals and individuals in
the NY metropolitan area and beyond. Now in its 80th year, Sterling is well
known for its focus on business customers, an extensive and diverse product
portfolio and a high-touch, hands-on approach to customer service.

Sterling offers working capital lines, asset-based financing, factoring,
accounts receivable financing and management, payroll funding and processing,
equipment leasing and financing, commercial and residential mortgages, import
trade financing, a wide array of depository products and cash management
services, trust and estate administration and custodial account services.

SOURCE Sterling Bancorp

John Tietjen, Chief Financial Officer, Sterling Bancorp, +1-212-757-8035,
john.tietjen@sterlingbancorp.com, or Edward Nebb, Investor Relations,
Comm-Counsellors, LLC, +1-203-972-8350, enebb@optonline.net