Dime Community Bancshares Provides Notice of Stock Option Exercise Activity by Directors and Executive Officers Due to

BROOKLYN, NY, Feb 24 (MARKET WIRE) --
Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCOM) (the "Company"), the
parent company of The Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh ("Dime"),
announced that the following expiring, in-the-money stock options remain
unexercised.

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Expiration Date Total Options Remaining Options
(Ten Years from Exercise Cost Per Remaining to Be Held By Section 16
Initial Grant Date) Share Exercised Reporting Persons
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November 21, 2011 $10.91 325,982 265,609
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February 1, 2013 $13.16 515,203 396,750
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For each of these grants, the great majority of the remaining options
held by Section 16 reporting persons are held by either Vincent F.
Palagiano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Michael
P. Devine, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, or
Kenneth J. Mahon, First Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of the Company.

Based on the Company's historical experience, it is likely that all of
these options will be exercised prior to their expiration date, resulting
in one of the more active periods in recent years for option activity in
the Company's shares.

For personal reasons such as funding the option exercise price and income
tax payments, or diversification of assets as part of personal financial
planning, it is anticipated that the option holders may sell, rather than
hold, a large portion of the shares acquired in connection with their
option exercises.

Company insiders, which include Directors and Executive Officers, held or
controlled 19.5% of the outstanding shares, inclusive of vested stock
options, of the Company as of its most recent Proxy Statement dated April
12, 2010. This includes the beneficial ownership of approximately 4.4% of
the Company's outstanding common stock held by Vincent F. Palagiano,
approximately 2.7% held by Michael P. Devine, and 1.8% held by Kenneth J.
Mahon.

The Company has 639,293 additional stock options due to expire on January
24, 2014, with an exercise cost of $19.90 per option. Management
currently has no intention of modifying the terms of this grant.

ABOUT DIME COMMUNITY BANCSHARES
The Company (NASDAQ: DCOM) had $4.04
billion in consolidated assets as of December 31, 2010, and is the parent
company of Dime. Dime was founded in 1864, is headquartered in Brooklyn,
New York, and currently has twenty-five branches located throughout
Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Nassau County, New York. More information
on the Company and Dime can be found on the Dime's Internet website at
www.dime.com.

Contact:
Kenneth Ceonzo
Director of Investor Relations
718-782-6200 extension 8279

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