Contact:  Anthony P. Costa                                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
          Chairman and Chief Executive Officer               Press Release dated
          (866) 646-0003                                        October 15, 2008


                               ES Bancshares, Inc.
                     Announces Exercise of 102,038 Warrants

     Newburgh, New York- (October 15, 2008) ES Bancshares,  Inc. (the "Company")
(OTCBB:  ESBS) announced today that during the quarter ended September 30, 2008,
there were  102,038  warrants  exercised  at an exercise  price of $6.75,  which
raised $688,757 in gross proceeds for the Company.  The total number of warrants
exercised  was  comprised of 29,890  Common Stock  Purchase  Warrants and 72,148
Organizer Warrants.

     Effective  June 30, 2008,  the Company  reduced the  exercise  price of its
Organizer Warrants and Common Stock Purchase Warrants (OTCBB: ESBSW) from $10.00
to $6.75.  The reduced  exercise price for the Organizer  Warrants is applicable
only for a period  ending on October 31, 2008,  after which the  exercise  price
will revert  back to $10.00 per share.  There were  10,000  Organizer  Warrants,
which  expire on June 28, 2009,  that were  granted to each of the  Company's 19
organizers in connection with the opening of Empire State Bank.

     The Company's  Common Stock Warrants were  originally  issued in connection
with its  initial  public  offering on April 28,  2004.  Each  purchaser  in the
offering  was  provided  with a Common  Stock  Warrant to purchase one share for
every five  shares  purchased.  The Common  Stock  Purchase  Warrants  expire on
October 31, 2008.

     Anthony P.  Costa,  Chairman  and Chief  Executive  Officer  stated "We are
pleased by the interim results of the Company's  modified and extended  warrants
program,  especially  during the  tumultuous  economic  times that all financial
institutions  currently  operate.  It  is  indicative  of  the  confidence  that
shareholders  and organizers  have in the Company's  ability to continue to grow
the Bank and increase shareholder value in the future."

     The Company has engaged  American  Stock  Transfer and Trust Company as its
Exchange  Agent to  facilitate  the exercise of its  Organizer  Warrants and its
Common Stock Purchase Warrants.

     The  Company  is the  holding  company  for  Empire  State  Bank,  N.A.,  a
full-service, community-oriented commercial bank providing financial services to
individuals,  families and  businesses  in and around the Town of Newburgh,  the
Village of New Paltz and the borough of Staten Island.

     This  release  contains  "forward-looking  statements"  as  defined  in the
Private  Securities  Litigation  Reform Act of 1995. A variety of factors  could
cause ES Bancshares,  Inc.'s actual results to differ from those expected at the
time of this release  including  changes in the market price of our common stock
and in stock  prices  generally,  competition,  changes  in  general  and  local
economic  conditions,  changes in interest  rates,  our ability to  successfully
carry out our plan and  regulatory  concerns.  Investors  are urged to carefully
review and consider the various  disclosures in our periodic  reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the most recently  ended fiscal year.  Copies of these filings are available
at no cost on the  SEC's  web site at  http://www.sec.gov  or on ES  Bancshares,
Inc.'s web site at http://www.esbna.com.