Exhibit 31.1

                    Certification of Chief Executive Officer
            Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002


I, Richard P. Chapman, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

1.      I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Brookline Bancorp,
        Inc.;

2.      Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
        statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
        to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
        such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
        covered by this quarterly report;

3.      Based on my knowledge, the financial statements and other financial
        information included in this quarterly report fairly present in all
        material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
        cash flows of the registrant as of and for the periods presented in this
        quarterly report;

4.      The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
        establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
        defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
        control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
        13a-15(f) and 15(d)-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

        a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
             disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
             supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
             registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
             to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
             period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

        b)   Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
             such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under
             our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
             reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
             statements for external purposes in accordance with generally
             accepted accounting principles;


        c)   Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
             and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about
             the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of
             the end of the period covered by this quarterly report based on
             such evaluation; and


        d)   Disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the registrant's
             internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
             registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
             affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
             registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

5.      The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
        our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
        to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's
        board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

        a)   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
             or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
             reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
             record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

        b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
             other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
             internal control over financial reporting.

A signed original of this written statement required by Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has been provided to Brookline Bancorp, Inc. and will
be retained by Brookline Bancorp, Inc. and furnished to the Securities and
Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.




November 3, 2008                          /s/ Richard P. Chapman, Jr.
- ----------------                          ----------------------------
       Date                               Richard P. Chapman, Jr.
                                          President and Chief Executive Officer