First National Bank of Long Island becomes ConnectOne after merger 

The First National Bank of Long Island, a nearly century-old financial institution founded in Glen Head, is now consolidated under the ConnectOne brand, following a broader industry trend toward mergers among smaller banks.

The First of Long Island Corp., which was the parent company of The First National Bank of Long Island, and ConnectOne Bancorp Inc., the parent of ConnectOne Bank, completed their merger Sunday, after announcing the proposed consolidation in September.    

After the merger, ConnectOne now is among the top five community banks on Long Island, based on deposit market share, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.  Deposit market share is the percentage of deposits held by an institution insured by the FDIC in a particular region. 

The merged entity now operates more than 60 branches across New York, New Jersey, and Southeast Florida.

“Long Island is a very robust marketplace and having a true community bank that understands … the speed of business and how business needs to be done, and a bank that has a great track record of providing those services, I think is a good thing for the market,” ConnectOne CEO Frank Sorrentino III told Newsday. 

As compensation for the merger, First of Long Island shareholders received 0.5175 shares of ConnectOne common stock for each share of FLIC common stock owned, the company said. The deal is valued at about $284 million, ConnectOne said in September.

ConnectOne's post-merger total assets stand at about $14 billion, with about $11 billion each in deposits and loans.

Customers of the former First National Bank, which was headquartered in Melville and has branches primarily located on Long Island, will gain access to new digital services, including online account opening and cloud-based loan origination. Staffing adjustments include a reduction of about 20 employees from First National Bank’s Long Island workforce of 246, though some departures are due to retirements and natural attrition, Sorrentino said.

The merger addresses broader industry pressures, including rising technology and regulatory costs, prompting consolidation for efficiency, he said.

ConnectOne is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and was founded by Sorrentino in 2005.

The company has strategically acquired smaller banks since 2018 to improve its market position, Hofstra University finance professor Anoop Rai said.  

ConnectOne and First National Bank need to reduce their costs, said Rai, citing declining net incomes for both banks in recent years.

Their returns on assets and equity "are below the national average for banks of their size but they hold potential for growth because of the consolidation," he said.

"They better get their costs down," he added. "They have to."

ConnectOne’s annual net income declined 41% to $73.8 million and The First of Long Island’s declined 64% to $17.1 million from 2022 to 2024.

Before the merger, ConnectOne operated 24 branches, including two on Long Island — in Melville and East Hampton — and had a loan production office in East Hampton. The First National Bank, founded in 1927, had 35 branches across Long Island and two in New York City.

Christopher Becker, former CEO of The First National Bank, now serves as vice chairman at ConnectOne.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.