Exhibit 99.1

         Astoria Financial Corporation Ordered to Pay Arbitration Award

    LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Astoria Financial
Corporation (NYSE: AF), the holding company for Astoria Federal Savings and
Loan Association, announced today that it was notified by the American
Arbitration Association that an Award of Arbitration had been made in an
arbitration concerning a compensation dispute between Astoria and three former
directors of Long Island Bancorp, Inc., ("LIB") which was acquired by Astoria
in 1998.  None of these former directors of LIB served as directors of Astoria
Financial Corporation or Astoria Federal Savings and Loan Association.

    The claimants and Astoria Financial entered into an Arbitration Agreement,
dated January 15, 2003, pursuant to which the matter was referred to the
American Arbitration Association for resolution.  Pursuant to the award,
Astoria will incur an after-tax charge of approximately $2.1 million, or
approximately $0.03 per diluted share, in the quarter ending September 30,
2004.  The award represents a final disposition of the dispute under
arbitration.

    Astoria Financial Corporation, the holding company for Astoria Federal
Savings and Loan Association with assets of $22.3 billion, is the third
largest thrift institution headquartered in New York and sixth largest in the
United States.  Astoria Federal embraces its philosophy of Putting people
first by providing its 700,000 customers and the local communities it serves
with quality financial products and services through 86 convenient banking
office locations and multiple delivery channels, including its enhanced
website, http://www.astoriafederal.com.  Astoria commands the third largest
deposit market share in the attractive Long Island market, which includes
Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties with a population exceeding that
of 39 individual states.  Astoria originates mortgage loans through its
banking offices and loan production offices in New York, an extensive broker
network in nineteen states, primarily the East Coast, and through
correspondent relationships in forty-four states.



SOURCE  Astoria Financial Corporation
    -0-                             09/02/2004
    /CONTACT:  Peter J. Cunningham, First Vice President, Investor Relations,
Astoria Financial Corporation, +1-516-327-7877, ir@astoriafederal.com/
    /Company News On-Call:  http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/104529.html/
    /Web site:  http://ir.astoriafederal.com /
    (AF)

CO:  Astoria Financial Corporation
ST:  New York
IN:  FIN
SU: