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January 4, 2007

Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549


Ladies and Gentlemen:


We  were  previously  principal  accountants  for  Provident  New  York  Bancorp
(Provident)  and,  under the date of  December  11,  2006,  we  reported  on the
consolidated  financial  statements  of  Provident as of and for the years ended
September 30, 2006 and 2005 and management's  assessment of the effectiveness of
internal  control over  financial  reporting  as of  September  30, 2006 and the
effectiveness of internal  control over financial  reporting as of September 30,
2006.  On  January  2,  2007,  our  appointment  as  principal  accountants  was
terminated.  We have read Provident's statements included under Item 4.01 of its
Form 8-K dated January 4, 2007, and we agree with such statements except that we
are not in a position to agree or disagree with Provident's  statements that (a)
the  change  was  approved  by the Audit  Committee,  (b) on  January  3,  2007,
Provident  engaged the  registered  public  accounting  firm of Crowe Chizek and
Company  LLC as its  new  principal  accountants,  and  (c)  Provident  has  not
consulted with Crowe Chizek and Company LLC during the years ended September 30,
2006 and 2005 or the subsequent interim period through January 3, 2007 regarding
any of the  matters  or  events  set  forth  in Item  304(a)(2)(i)  and  (ii) of
Regulation S-K.

Very truly yours,

/s/ KPMG LLP






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            member firm of KPMG International, a Swiss cooperative.