To answer that question, we first need to give you a brief history of the Company’s evolution, given the significant role that mergers have played in our success.

New York Community Bancorp--formerly known as Queens County Bancorp--is one of the leading financial institutions in the Metro New York/New Jersey region and has been publicly traded since November 23, 1993. We were established on July 20, 1993 to serve as the holding company for Queens County Savings Bank, a New York State-chartered savings bank.

Our conversion to stock form was prompted by the belief that we had a superior business model, one that could create real value for those who chose to invest in the Company. From the very start, it was our intent to grow organically by producing multi-family loans on rent-controlled and rent-stabilized buildings in New York City, and by funding that loan production with the deposits acquired through mergers with other community banks.

It took a few years, but on November 30, 2000, we completed our first transaction, with the acquisition of Haven Bancorp, Inc., parent of CFS Bank. In connection with that acquisition, we changed our name to New York Community Bancorp, and the name of our savings bank subsidiary to New York Community Bank. On July 31, 2001, we completed a merger of equals with Richmond County Financial Corp., parent of Richmond County Savings Bank. Our third merger transaction, with Roslyn Bancorp, Inc., parent of The Roslyn Savings Bank, took place on October 31, 2003.

In 2004, we shifted our focus from growing through transactions to reducing our exposure to interest rate and market risk. In connection with the repositioning of our balance sheet at the end of the second quarter, we began to develop a series of programs aimed at diversifying and expanding our deposit base. In 2005, several of those programs came to fruition. For example, we established a Premier Banking Group to solicit deposits from the property owners we lend to. We also launched an Internet banking service, www.mybankingdirect.com. We initiated a program to attract deposits from students attending local colleges. And we set our sights on establishing a commercial banking platform to attract lower-cost core deposits and diversify our asset mix.

Establishing a Commercial Bank Subsidiary

This last objective was achieved on December 30, 2005 when our commercial bank subsidiary was established through the acquisition of Long Island Financial Corp., the parent company of Long Island Commercial Bank (“LICB”). To better reflect the expanded marketplace we knew we soon would be serving, we changed the name LICB to New York Commercial Bank.

The acquisition provided us with an established commercial bank franchise, with a solid reputation for providing a high level of personal service to consumers and small and mid-size businesses. It also provided the Company with a ready-made deposit base, an infusion of core deposits, and an attractive commercial loan portfolio of solid quality.

The second step in the process of building our new franchise was our acquisition of Atlantic Bank of New York on April 28, 2006. With its reputation for exceptional service, its quality assets, and its 17 locations—including five in Manhattan-- Atlantic Bank enhanced our growing commercial bank franchise and its credibility.

The expansion of the Commercial Bank has continued in 2007, with our acquisition of 11 branches in New York City from Doral Bank, FSB on July 27, 2007. As a result, in less than two years, the Commercial Bank has grown to 38 locations, including seven in Manhattan, 11 in Queens, six in Brooklyn, 10 on Long Island, and four in Westchester County. Nineteen of our Commercial Bank branches operate through the Atlantic Bank division with the other 19 operating directly under the New York Commercial Bank name.

Increasing Our Franchise in New Jersey

On April 2, 2007, we completed our next transaction, this time returning to our savings bank roots. With the acquisition of PennFed Financial Services, Inc., the parent of Penn Federal Savings Bank, in New Jersey, we expanded our savings bank franchise in the Garden State. Prior to acquiring PennFed, we had eight branches in New Jersey: two in Essex County, two in Union County, and four in the city of Bayonne. All eight of these New Jersey-based branches came to us through our merger with Richmond County Financial, which had acquired Ironbound Bank First Savings Bank of New Jersey in 1999, two years prior to merging with us.

The addition of PennFed’s 24 branches increased our presence in New Jersey, as well as our share of deposits in the six counties that they served. In addition, the transaction meshed very well with our strategy of growth-through-acquisition, as we looked to expand our franchise throughout the Metro New York/New Jersey area.

Our search for our next partner bore results on May 13, 2007, when we announced plans to acquire Synergy Financial Group, Inc., the parent of Synergy Bank and Synergy Financial Services. With the addition of Synergy to our Community Bank franchise, we now have 54 branches in New Jersey, with 15 in Essex County, 14 in Union, eight in Middlesex, seven in Monmouth, six in Hudson, three in Ocean, and one in Mercer. In addition to increasing our capital and boosting our share of deposits, the Synergy transaction has provided us with an attractive customer base.

New York Community Bank is the savings bank subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp. The Bank is a well capitalized New York State-chartered thrift institution, and has been serving customers in the New York metro region since April 1859, when it was founded under the name “Queens County Savings Bank.” The name was changed to New York Community Bank in December 2000, in connection with our expansion into Long Island, Westchester County, northern New Jersey, and the four other boroughs of New York City, pursuant to our acquisition of Haven Bancorp, Inc., the parent of CFS Bank.

The reason the name “New York Community Bank” may not be all that familiar is that we operate the branch network through several distinct divisional banks. The divisional names are typically well known within their local markets and, in most cases, date back to the middle or end of the nineteenth century.

The Community Bank currently operates through four divisional banks in New York and two divisional banks in New Jersey:

In New Jersey, we currently serve our customers through two divisions: Synergy Bank, with 19 locations in the central New Jersey counties of Middlesex, Monmouth, and Union; and Garden State Community Bank, with 34 locations in those three counties, as well as Essex, Hudson, Mercer, and Ocean counties.

Our Garden State Community Bank division was established in December 2007 when we decided to consolidate our First Savings Bank of New Jersey, Ironbound Bank, and Penn Federal Savings Bank divisions into a single division that emphasizes our commitment to those who live and work in the Garden State.

In New York, we currently serve our customers through:

• Queens County Savings Bank, which has 34 branches in Queens County, including seven branches that are located in-store;
• Roslyn Savings Bank, which serves Nassau and Suffolk counties through 57 branches, including 24 branches that are located in-store;
• Richmond County Savings Bank, which has 23 locations on Staten Island; of these, five are located in-store; and
• Roosevelt Savings Bank, which has eight branches serving customers in Brooklyn, including four branches that are located in-store.

We also have two branches each in the Bronx and Westchester County that operate directly under the name “New York Community Bank.” Three of our namesake branches are in-store locations, and all four offer the convenience of 24-hour ATMs.

New York Commercial Bank is the commercial bank subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp.

The subsidiary was established on December 30, 2005, when New York Community Bancorp acquired Long Island Financial Corp., the parent company of Long Island Commercial Bank, a small, but successful full-service commercial bank that was established in 1989 to meet the needs of small and mid-size businesses on Long Island. In connection with the Company’s acquisition of Long Island Financial, the name Long Island Commercial Bank was changed to New York Commercial Bank. The Commercial Bank franchise was subsequently expanded through the acquisition of Atlantic Bank of New York on April 26, 2006 and the acquisition of 11 branches of Doral Bank, FSB, on July 27, 2007.

As a result of the changes in bank regulations that have taken place over the past few decades, the differences between savings banks and commercial banks, which used to be substantial, are actually very few. In theory, savings banks were originally established to serve individuals and families, while commercial banks were established to serve businesses. Today, many commercial banks, including New York Commercial Bank, offer products and services that meet the needs of individuals and families, and many savings banks, including New York Community Bank, offer products and services that meet the needs of businesses. That said, savings banks tend to concentrate more on mortgage lending and commercial banks tend to concentrate more on business loans. In addition, commercial banks tend to attract more non-interest-bearing checking accounts than savings accounts, while the reverse can typically be said of savings banks.

Another difference has to do with the ability to accept municipal deposits. While New York State-chartered savings banks are prohibited from accepting such deposits, New York State-chartered commercial banks are permitted to accept such public funds.

The transition from Synergy Bank (“Synergy”) to New York Community Bank will be virtually seamless, with no need for you to make any change in where or how you bank. Our branch personnel will remain the same, and so will our banking hours. The only change will be greater convenience, since Synergy customers will now have no-cost access to a network of 301 ATMs throughout New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, as well as seven counties in New Jersey: Essex, Hudson, Union, Ocean, Mercer, Monmouth, and Middlesex.

In addition, once we’ve completed the integration of Synergy’s data processing systems with New York Community’s systems, you will be able to do all of your banking at any of the 180 branches of New York Community Bank—not just those bearing the Synergy name.

All checking accounts, savings accounts and money market accounts will maintain separate FDIC insurance coverage for the first six months following the merger. In addition, CDs that renew at the same term, and without additional principal added, will maintain separate FDIC insurance until six months after the merger date or the first maturity date after the merger, whichever occurs later. CDs that have additional principal added, or that renew for a different term, are covered under separate FDIC insurance for six months from the merger date, October 1, 2007.

After the aforementioned timeframes have passed, all deposits that are held at the two branches will be covered under the same FDIC insurance policy. In other words, for FDIC insurance purposes, the deposits held in the two branches will be combined, and insured to the maximum permissible by law.

New York Community Bancorp trades on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”). Information about our trading activity can be found at www.NYSE.com and various other financial web sites by entering our NYSE trading symbol, NYB. In addition, trading information is reported daily in The Wall Street Journal stock tables under “NY CmtyBcp” and in other major newspapers under similar abbreviations of the Company’s name.

Information about our trading activity, as well as our financial performance, can also be found on our web site, www.myNYCB.com, and on Synergy’s web site, www.synergyonthenet.com. Simply click on “Investor Relations” and then on “Stock Information” to find our trading information. Information about our financial performance may be found by clicking on “Press Releases” or “SEC Documents.”

Mellon Investor Services LLC (“Mellon”) serves as the Company’s stock registrar, transfer agent, and dividend disbursement/reinvestment agent. In addition, Mellon is handling the exchange of Synergy shares for New York Community shares (please refer to Q&A Nos. 22, 23, and 24, below, for information regarding the exchange of Synergy shares for shares of New York Community).

Shareholders seeking to transfer shares, record a change of address, or report a missing dividend check, can expedite the process by contacting Mellon toll-free at 1-866-293-6077, or by sending an e-mail to shrrelations@melloninvestor.com.

On or about October 10, 2007, an information packet will be mailed to all registered shareholders who held some or all of their Synergy shares in certificate form at the effective date of the merger, October 1st. The packet will include a “Letter of Transmittal” with instructions for exchanging your Synergy stock certificates for New York Community stock certificates. The Letter of Transmittal will be sent by Mellon, in its capacity as Exchange Agent for the merger of Synergy with and into New York Community, and must be completed and signed by the shareholder(s) whose name(s) appear on the Synergy stock certificates, and returned to Mellon together with the pertinent Synergy stock certificate(s).

Assuming that the Letter of Transmittal is properly completed and signed, it will take approximately ten days from the time Mellon receives the completed Letter of Transmittal and the associated Synergy stock certificates to process the exchange of shares. As a Synergy shareholder, you can expect to receive a single New York Community stock certificate in exchange for all the Synergy certificates you surrender under the same name. A check for any cash in lieu of a fractional share to which you are entitled will be mailed to you under separate cover.

Registered owners who still have questions about these procedures after they’ve received and read the Letter of Transmittal should call Mellon directly at 1-800-777-3674. Synergy stock certificates should not be surrendered to Synergy or New York Community, as this will only delay the exchange. Stock certificates must be surrendered to Mellon, together with the completed and signed Letter of Transmittal, in order for the exchange to take place.