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

BROOKLYN, NY--(Marketwire - February 24, 2011) - 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.

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 Information:

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