EXHIBIT 99.3

                           CONSENT OF NOMINEE DIRECTOR

         I, Alan J. Wilzig, hereby consent to being named in the Proxy
Statement-Prospectus included in the Registration Statement to which this
consent is an exhibit as a person who will become, subject to my appointment by
the Board of Directors of North Fork Bancorporation, Inc. (the "Company"), a
director of the Company effective upon the closing of the merger of The Trust
Company of New Jersey and the Company.

                                                   /s/ Alan J. Wilzig


Dated: February 26, 2004