New York

Sterling Bancorp in New York reported strong loan and deposit growth in the second quarter, but profits were dampened somewhat by the cost of exiting the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Shares of Astoria Financial Corp. were down in heavy trading Thursday after the Lake Success, N.Y., company reported second-quarter earnings that fell well short of analysts' estimates.

First Niagara Financial Group Inc. in Buffalo said Tuesday that its second-quarter net income fell 32.3% from the same period last year, to $13.6 million, primarily on costs related to its $1.5 billion acquisition of NewAlliance Bancshares and other items.

Arrow Financial Corp. reported second-quarter profit of $5.8 million, a 2.4% increase over the same period last year.

NorthEast Community Bancorp Inc. is ready to make a gutsy move — an aggressive push into Boston that also involves originating its first single-family mortgages in roughly two decades.

NBT Bancorp Inc. of Norwich, N.Y., is expanding into western Massachusetts with a deal to purchase four branches from Legacy Bancorp of Pittsfield, Mass.

VSB Bancorp Inc. said Wednesday that second-quarter earnings fell 7.5% largely because of lower yields on securities and loans during the period.

Northeast Community Bancorp Inc. in White Plains, N.Y., is expanding its loan production office in Danvers, Mass., as part of a major push to increase its lending in eastern Massachusetts.

TrustCo Bank Corp NY of Glenville, N.Y., has completed a stock offering, raising about $68.1 million in fresh capital.

Signature Bank said it would offer at least 4.1 million shares of common stock, which would raise its number outstanding by 9.9%.

Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. in New York has promoted Thomas J. Murphy to president of the bank and senior vice president of its parent company, Arrow Financial Corp., effective July 1

Deborah Wright has likely never been as happy to be a New Yorker as she is this week. Carver Bancorp, a struggling thrift company where Wright is the CEO, managed to bring in $55M in capital in a deal led by many of the city's heavyweights.

Provident Bank in Montebello, N.Y., announced Monday that longtime President and Chief Executive Officer George Strayton is retiring and that its board has hired former KeyCorp executive Jack Kopnisky to succeed him.

TrustCo Bank Corp. in Glenville, N.Y., plans to sell 13.6 million shares of stock in a public offering.

New York State is considering legislation that would carve out an exception for check cashers from its 25% cap on interest rates for short-term loans, a move consumer advocates say is a backdoor attempt to allow payday lending in the nation's third-most populous state.

Bridge Bancorp in Bridgehampton, N.Y., said late Friday that it had completed its $6.3 million acquisition of Hamptons State Bank of Southampton, N.Y.

Shares of Herald National Bank rose more than 25% Tuesday after Bloomberg reported that BankUnited in Miami Lakes, Fla., was in talks to acquire the small, New York-based commercial bank.

Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union in New York has hired Oskar Mielczarek, an experienced banker, as its president and chief executive.

Two weeks after First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo announced it is adding hundreds of jobs in western New York, the chief executive M&T Bank Corp. said his company expects to create 133 new jobs in Buffalo as a result of its acquisition of Wilmington Trust Corp. in Delaware.

Suffolk Bancorp in Riverhead, N.Y., has announced that it may need to restate earnings for several quarter after identifying weaknesses in its methodology for calculating loan losses.