"DIME HOMETOWN HEROES" PROGRAM TO HONOR LOCAL PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES FOR THEIR WORK OFF THE FIELD, COURT AND ICE
Marcus Camby, Adam Graves, Kenny Jonsson, Al Leiter, Michael Strahan And Jayson Williams Each Receive $50,000 Grants To Be Used For Charity

New York, NY - December 3, 1999 - The Dime Savings Bank of New York,FSB announced today the launch of the "Dime Hometown Heroes"program, which honors athletes from professional sports teams in the New York / New Jersey metropolitan area for their community involvement and charitable efforts.

The Dime will officially kick the program off from center court and center ice at Madison Square Garden at the December 5th Knicks game and December 6th Rangers game. There, checks in the amount of $50,000 will be presented to some of the athletes that have been selected as Dime Hometown Heroes. The six honorees include: Marcus Camby from The New York Knicks, Adam Graves from The New York Rangers, Kenny Jonsson from The New York Islanders, Al Leiter from The New York Mets, Michael Strahan from The New York Giants and Jayson Williams from The New Jersey Nets. Each $50,000 grant will be directly contributed to the charitable cause(s) designated by each Dime Hometown Hero.

"When professional athletes are in uniform, they are truly larger-than-life figures," said Lawrence J. Toal, Dime's Chairman and CEO. "What the Dime Hometown Heroes program does is assist the efforts of these players who maintain that larger-than-life presence off the field of play. These are individuals that not only accept their status as role models, but embrace it; they put it to extraordinary use by getting involved in their communities and making a difference in people's lives. The Dime - a bank that was founded 140 years ago on the theme of making a difference -is proud to salute them." As examples of each honored athlete's commitment to community service, Mr. Toal referred to Marcus Camby's Cambyland Youth Foundation, Adam Graves' involvement with Family Dynamics, Kenny Jonsson's leadership in organizing charity drives benefiting Long Island children, Al Leiter's work through Leiter's Landing, Michael Strahan's support of Housing Enterprises for the Less Privileged (HELP), and Jayson Williams' efforts to help children with AIDS through the Jayson Williams Foundation. "I commend The Dime for generously supporting the efforts of New York athletes who are trying to help strengthen the communities in which we live and work," said Adam Graves. "It's not easy to raise the funding necessary to make an impact, but partnerships like this one are tremendously encouraging for the future and I hope we'll see more of them. I'm honored to be among the New York area athletes who feel fortunate to be where we are, and who understand that we can make a difference, especially for kids and their families.

" The Dime Savings Bank of New York, FSB (www.dime.com) is a regional bank serving consumers and businesses through 127 branches located throughout the greater New York City metropolitan area. Directly and through its mortgage banking subsidiary, North American Mortgage Company (www.namc.com), Dime also provides consumer loans, insurance products and mortgage banking services throughout the United States.