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North Fork Buying Commercial Bank of New York

Eileen Kinsella

Long Island-based North Fork Bank (NFB Quote) Tuesday agreed to buy Commercial Bank of New York (CBNY Quote) in a deal worth around $170 million.

North Fork has agreed to pay $32 a share for Commercial Bank, a hefty premium to its closing price yesterday of $21.25 and an indication of North Fork's determination to push into New York City and its boroughs. North Fork failed last year in its hostile attempt for Dime Bancorp (DME Quote).

The deal comes just a day after Citigroup (C Quote) snapped up Long Island's EAB, a unit of Netherlands-based ABN Amro (ABN Quote), for $1.6 billion. That deal would likely leave North Fork swimming upstream in its efforts to penetrate the greater New York area. North Fork was reportedly a bidder for EAB along with FleetBoston Financial (FBF Quote). Netiher bank was immediately available for comment.