FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2005

For further information contact:
Craig Montanaro
First Vice President
Kearny Financial Corp.
(973) 244-4500

                             KEARNY FINANCIAL CORP.
                             ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF
                             MINORITY STOCK OFFERING

Fairfield,  New Jersey,  February 23, 2005 - Kearny Financial Corp. (Nasdaq NMS:
KRNY) (the  "Company"),  the holding  company of Kearny  Federal  Savings  Bank,
announced  today  that it closed its  minority  stock  offering  at the close of
business today,  February 23, 2005. Kearny MHC, which formerly owned 100% of the
Company, now holds 50,916,250 shares, or 70% of the Company's outstanding common
stock,  and 21,821,250  shares,  or 30% of the  outstanding  common stock,  were
issued to subscribers in the offering,  including 1,745,700 shares issued to the
Kearny Federal Savings Bank Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

Shares of the Company are expected to begin  trading on  Thursday,  February 24,
2005, on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "KRNY."

The offering was oversubscribed by the Bank's tier one eligible account holders,
i.e.,  depositors  of the Bank having  eligible  deposits as of March 31,  2003.
Accordingly,  tier one eligible account holders will have valid orders filled in
accordance  with the  allocation  procedures  set forth in the Company's plan of
stock issuance.  Supplemental  eligible account holders as of September 30, 2004
and other depositors at Kearny Federal Savings Bank as of November 30, 2004 will
not have orders filled.  If you are a tier one eligible account holder and would
like to confirm your allocation,  please contact the Stock Information Center at
(866) 424-2161. The Stock Information Center will open at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday,
February 24, 2005.

Sandler  O'Neill & Partners,  L.P. acted as financial  advisor to the Company in
connection  with the offering  and managed the  subscription  offering.  Malizia
Spidi & Fisch, PC acted as special counsel to the Company.

Kearny  Financial  Corp. is the holding company for Kearny Federal Savings Bank,
which  operates  from its main  office in Kearny,  New Jersey,  and  twenty-four
branch offices located in Bergen, Hudson,  Passaic,  Morris,  Middlesex,  Essex,
Union and Ocean  Counties,  New Jersey.  At December 31,  2004,  the Company had
total assets,  deposits and stockholders' equity of $1.89 billion, $1.49 billion
and $302.2 million, respectively.

The  foregoing  information  contains  forward-looking  statements.  The Company
cautions  that such  statements  are subject to a number of  uncertainties.  The
Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation to update
any  forward-looking  statement,  whether written or oral, that may be made from
time to time by or on behalf of the Company.