SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                           WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                  FORM 11-K

X  ANNUAL  REPORT  PURSUANT  TO SECTION 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
   1934 [NO FEE REQUIRED]
                   FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1996

   TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE
   ACT OF 1934 [NO FEE REQUIRED]
                   For the transaction period from   to

                       Commission file Number 0-27782

 THE EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN OF DIME COMMUNITY BANCORP, INC. AND CERTAIN
                                  AFFILIATES
                          (Full Title of the Plan)

                   DIME COMMUNITY BANCORP, INC.
                   209 Havemeyer Street, Brooklyn, NY  11211
                   (Name of issuer of the securities held pursuant to the plan
                   and the address of its principal executive office.)

      Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (718) 782-6200

                                     - 1 -

                                                                     PAGE

ITEM 1

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT                                           3

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED
 JUNE 30, 1996:

 Statements of Net Assets Available for Plan Benefits                  4

 Statements of Changes in Net Assets Available for Plan Benefits       5

 Notes to Financial Statements                                        6-9

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:

 Item 27(a) - Schedule of Assets Held for Investment Purposes         10

 Item 27(d) - Schedule of Reportable Transactions                     11

 Signatures                                                           12

                                     - 2 -

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT

To the Board of  Directors of
  Dime Community Bancorp, Inc. & Subsidiary

We have audited the accompanying statement of net assets available for plan
benefits of The Employee Stock Ownership Plan Of Dime Community Bancorp, Inc.
And Certain Affiliates (the "Plan") as of June 30, 1996 and the related
statement of changes in net assets available for plan benefits for the year
then ended.  These financial statements are the responsibility of the Plan's
management.  Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial
statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards.  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of
material misstatement.  An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence
supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.  An audit
also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial
statement presentation.  We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis
for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material
respects, the net assets available for plan benefits as of June 30, 1996 and
the changes in the net assets available for plan benefits for the year then
ended in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.

Our audit was made for the purpose of forming an opinion on the basic financial
statements taken as a whole.  The supplemental schedules of investments and
reportable transactions are presented for the purpose of additional analysis
and are not a required part of the basic financial statements but are
supplementary information required by the Department of Labor's Rules and
Regulations for Reporting and Disclosure under the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974.  These schedules are the responsibility of the Plan's
management.  The supplemental schedules have been subjected to the auditing
procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements and, in our
opinion, are fairly stated in all material respects in relation to the basic
financial statements taken as a whole.

/s/ DELOITTE & TOUCHE, LLP

December 5, 1996

                                     - 3 -

THE EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN OF DIME COMMUNITY BANCORP,
INC. AND CERTAIN AFFILIATES

STATEMENT OF NET ASSETS AVAILABLE FOR PLAN BENEFITS AS OF JUNE 30, 1996

                                                  ALLOCATED             UNALLOCATED            TOTAL
                                                                            
                                               ---------------    ------------------   ----------------
ASSETS:
Investments in shares of Dime Community
   Bancorp, Inc. Common Stock, at fair value          $113,952           $13,560,698        $13,674,650

                                                --------------    ------------------   ----------------
TOTAL ASSETS                                           113,952            13,560,698         13,674,650
                                                       =======            ==========         ==========
LIABILITIES:
Borrowing from Dime Community Bancorp,
   Inc.                                                     -             11,541,017         11,541,017
                                                --------------     -----------------    ---------------
TOTAL LIABILITIES                                           -             11,541,017         11,541,017
                                                      ========            ==========         ==========
NET ASSETS AVAILABLE FOR PLAN
   BENEFITS                                           $113,952           $ 2,019,681        $ 2,133,633
                                                       =======            ==========         ==========

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

                                     - 4 -

THE EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN OF DIME COMMUNITY BANCORP, INC. AND
CERTAIN AFFILIATES

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS AVAILABLE FOR PLAN BENEFITS FOR THE YEAR
ENDED JUNE 30, 1996

                                                  Allocated         Unallocated          Total
                                                                          
                                              ----------------- ------------------ -----------------

ADDITIONS:                                                                                     
Investment Activities:
Unrealized appreciation in market value of
Dime
   Community Bancorp, Inc. Common Stock                $     -          $2,036,650        $2,036,650
                                                 --------------   ----------------   ---------------
Total investment activities                                  -           2,036,650         2,036,650
                                                 --------------   ----------------   ---------------
Other Additions:
Contributions from Dime Savings Bank of
   Williamsburgh                                             -             102,085           102,085
Allocation of 9,698 shares of Dime Community
   Bancorp, Inc. Common Stock to participant
   accounts                                             113,952                 -            113,952
                                                 --------------   ----------------  ----------------
Total other additions                                   113,952            102,085           216,037
                                                 --------------   ----------------  ----------------
TOTAL ADDITIONS                                         113,952          2,138,735         2,252,687
                                                 --------------   ----------------  ----------------
SUBTRACTIONS:
Allocation of 9,698 shares of Dime Community
   Bancorp, Inc. Common Stock to participant
   accounts                                                  -             113,952           113,952
Interest expense on Borrowing from Dime
   Community Bancorp, Inc.                                   -               5,102             5,102
                                                  -------------   ----------------  ----------------
TOTAL SUBTRACTIONS                                           -             119,054           119,054
                                                  -------------   ----------------  ----------------
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS AVAILABLE
   FOR BENEFITS DURING THE YEAR                        $113,952         $2,019,681        $2,133,633
                                                       ========          =========         =========

                             NET ASSETS AVALABLE FOR PLAN BENEFITS:

   Beginning of year                                   $     -          $       -         $       -
                                                       ========          =========         =========
   End of year                                         $113,952         $2,019,681        $2,133,633
                                                       ========          =========         =========

See accompanying notes to financial statements.

THE EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN OF DIME COMMUNITY BANCORP, INC. AND
CERTAIN AFFILIATES

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1996

1.  SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PLAN

    The following is a brief description of The Employee Stock Ownership Plan
    Of Dime Community Bancorp, Inc. And Certain Affiliates (the "ESOP").  This
    description of the ESOP is provided for general information purposes only.
    Participants should refer to the ESOP document for a more complete
    description of the ESOP's provisions.

    a.   GENERAL - The ESOP was adopted by the Board of Directors of the Dime
         Savings Bank of Williamsburgh (the "Bank") on February 8, 1996 with an
         effective date of July 1, 1995.

         On June 26, 1996, the Bank converted from a federally chartered mutual
         savings bank to a federally chartered stock savings bank and all of
         its outstanding capital stock was acquired by Dime Community Bancorp,
         Inc. (the "Company").  Simultaneously, the Company issued 14,547,500
         shares of common stock in a Subscription and Community offering to
         eligible investors in the following order of priority: (1) depositors
         whose deposits in qualifying accounts in the Bank totaled $50 or more
         on October 31, 1994; (2) the Employee plans of the Bank; including the
         ESOP, up to a maximum of 10% of the total shares issued, (3)
         depositors whose deposits in qualifying accounts in the Bank totaled
         $50 or more on March 31, 1996; and (4) members of the Bank, consisting
         of depositors of the Bank as of May 9, 1996, the voting record date
         for the special meeting of members to vote on the Conversion, other
         than those members who otherwise qualify as Eligible Account Holders
         or Supplemental Eligible Account Holders.  The ESOP purchased
         1,163,800, or 8%, of the shares issued by the Company in its community
         offering at the initial issuance price of $10.00 per share.

         The ESOP is designed to comply with Section 4975(e)(7) and the
         regulations thereunder of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
         amended (the "Code"), and is subject to the applicable provisions of
         the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended
         ("ERISA").  The ESOP is administered by the Compensation Committee
         appointed by the Company's Board of Directors.  The trust services
         department of Marine Midland Bank ("Trustee") acts as the trustee for
         the ESOP.

         In order to purchase the shares of the Company's common stock, the
         ESOP obtained a borrowing from the Company of $11,638,000, which is to
         repaid over a ten year period at a fixed interest rate of 8.0%.  The
         borrowing agreement establishes a repayment period of ten years
         with the option to  make prepayments subject to certain terms
         established by the agreement.  During the year ended June 30,
         1996, a partial repayment representing one month of principal of
         $96,983 was made.  Repayments of the borrowing are made from fully
         deductible contributions from the Bank to the ESOP.  As the ESOP makes
         each payment of principal on the borrowing, an appropriate percentage
         of stock will be allocated to eligible participants accounts in
         accordance with applicable regulations under the Code.  Shares fully
         vest upon allocation.

         The borrowing is collateralized by the unallocated shares of stock
         held by the ESOP.  The Company, as lender, has no rights against
         shares once they are allocated under the ESOP.  Accordingly, the
         financial statements of the ESOP for the year ended June 30, 1996
         present separately the assets and liabilities and changes therein
         pertaining to:
           (1) the accounts of employees with vested rights in allocated stock
              (Allocated) and
           (2) stock not yet allocated to employees (Unallocated)

    b.   ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION -All Eligible Employees, defined as
         salaried, common law employees of the Company or the Bank, who have
         completed a period of service of at least one year, automatically
         participate in the ESOP.  An employee is not an eligible employee if
         he or she is compensated principally on an hourly, daily, commission
         fee or retainer basis, or has waived any claim to membership in the
         Plan.

    c.   CONTRIBUTIONS AND DISTRIBUTIONS-  The Company or the Bank shall
         contribute to the ESOP an amount which, at minimum, shall serve to
         finance the ESOP's obligation under its outstanding borrowing from the
         Company.  The Company or the Bank may contribute additional amounts,
         if designated by the ESOP Committee, to the ESOP, which shall be
         applied as a prepayment of principal or interest for the outstanding
         borrowing from the Company.  Any additional contributions approved by
         the Committee shall be treated as an ESOP contribution and shall be
         allocated among the accounts of Eligible Participants in accordance
         with a pre-established formula.  Participant contributions are not
         permitted.

         No distributions from the ESOP will be made until a participant
         retires, dies (in which case, payment shall be made to his or her
         beneficiary or, if none, his or her legal representatives), or
         otherwise terminates employment with the Company or the Bank.
         Distributions are made in cash or, if participant elects, in the form
         of shares of Common stock of the Company plus cash for fractional
         shares.

    d.   VESTING - The balance credited to each Participant's account shall
         become vested in accordance with the following schedule:

             NUMBER OF YEARS OF SERVICE         VESTED PERCENTAGE

                Less than 2 years                        0%
                Less than 3 years                       25
                Less than 4 years                       50
                Less than 5 years                       75
                5 or more years                        100

         Under the provisions of the ESOP, participants were granted credit,
         for purposes of vesting, for years of service at the Bank prior to the
         establishment of the ESOP.  Any previously  unvested  portion
         shall become fully vested to participants upon attainment of
         age 65, or, if earlier, upon the termination of his or her
         participation by reason of death, disability, retirement or upon
         occurrence of change in control of the Employer.

    e.   INVESTMENTS -  As of June 30, 1996, the ESOP's investments consists
         solely of investments in common stock of the Company.  The ESOP is
         permitted, under the Plan Document, to invest in any commingled or
         group trust fund, or common trust fund that are exempt from taxes under
         Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.

    f.   ALLOCATION OF SHARES TO PARTICIPANT ACCOUNTS -  As of the last day of
         each plan year which a borrowing is  outstanding, a portion of the
         financed shares purchased with the proceeds of the borrowing shall be
         released in accordance with a predetermined formula.  The released
         shares are allocated to Eligible Participant accounts in the proportion
         that each such Eligible Participant's compensation, as measured under
         the terms of the Plan Document, for the portion of the immediately
         preceding calendar year during which he or she was a participant, bears
         to the aggregate compensation of all Eligible Participants, as measured
         under the terms of the Plan Document.  Released shares allocated to
         participant accounts totaled 9,698 during the year ended June 30, 1996.

         Each participant's account reflects an allocation of the Bank's
         contributions, ESOP earnings and the forfeiture of terminated
         participant non-vested accounts.

         Each participant is entitled to exercise voting rights attributable to
         the shares allocated to his or her account and is notified by the
         Trustee prior to the time that such rights are to be exercised.  The
         Trustee is permitted, upon grant of authority by the Plan Administrator
         to vote shares for which instructions have not been given by a partic-
         ipant within the stated time period.  Such vote is made in direct pro-
         portion to the votes received from participants.

    g.   FORFEITURES -  Upon the termination of employment of a participant or
         former participant for reason other than death, disability, retirement,
         that portion of the balance credited to his or her account which is not
         vested at the date of termination shall be forfeited as of the last
         Valuation Date, defined as the last business day of March, June,
         September, or December.  The proceeds of such forfeitures shall be
         treated as loan repayments and ESOP contributions as designated by the
         ESOP committee.

    h.   ESOP TERMINATION - The Company reserves the right to terminate the
         ESOP at any time, subject to the provisions of ERISA.  Upon such
         termination of the ESOP, the interest of each participant in ESOP will
         be distributed to such participant or his or her beneficiary at the
         time prescribed by the ESOP provisions and the Code.  Upon termination
         of the ESOP, the Compensation Committee shall direct the Trustee to pay
         all liabilities and expenses of the trust fund and to sell shares of
         financed stock held in the loan suspense account to the extent it
         determines such sale to be necessary in order to repay the borrowing.
         
2.  SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

    BASIS OF ACCOUNTING - The accompanying financial statements of the ESOP are
    maintained on the accrual basis of accounting.

    INVESTMENT VALUATION AND INCOME RECOGNITION - The shares of Dime Community
    Bancorp, Inc. Common Stock are valued at fair value as of June 30, 1996
    based upon the closing price stated in the Wall Street Journal of $11.75
    per share.

    No dividends on Dime Community Bancorp, Inc. Common Stock were declared or
    paid during the year ended June 30, 1996.  Should dividends be declared,
    dividend income will be accrued on the ex-dividend date.

    Purchases and sales of securities are recorded on a trade date basis.
    Realized gains and losses from security transactions are reported on the
    average cost method.

    USE OF ESTIMATES - The preparation of the financial statements in
    accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles requires
    management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported
    amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.  Actual results could
    differ from these estimates.

3.  FEDERAL INCOME TAXES

    The ESOP is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal
    Revenue Code (the "Code") and is intended to be exempt from taxation under
    Section 501(a) of the Code.  At present, the ESOP has not yet received a
    favorable IRS determination letter.  However, the Plan Administrator
    believes that the Plan, and the underlying trust agreement, are currently
    designed and being operated in compliance with the applicable requirements
    of the Internal Revenue Code.  Therefore, no provision for income taxes has
    been included in the ESOP's financial statements.

4.  ADMINSTRATION OF PLAN ASSETS

    The assets of the ESOP, which consist solely of its investment in shares of
    Dime Community Bancorp, Inc. Common Stock, are held in safekeeping as
    designated by the Trustee.

    Contributions to the ESOP are held and managed by the Trustee.  All
    contributions received during the year ended June 30, 1996 were utilized to
    service the principal and interest on the borrowing.

    Certain administrative functions are performed by officers or employees of
    the Company or Bank.  No such officer or employee receives compensation
    from the ESOP.  All administrative expenses of the ESOP are paid by the
    Company or the Bank.

5.  INVESTMENTS

    The investments, at June 30, 1996, are presented in the following table:

                                                               
                                                       ALLOCATED          UNALLOCATED
                                                   ---------------    ------------------
                                                                   
        Shares of Dime Community Bancorp, Inc. Common Stock:
        Number of shares                                     9,698           1,154,102
                                                           =======         ===========
        Cost                                              $ 96,980         $11,541,020
                                                           =======         ===========
        Market                                             113,952          13,560,698
                                                           =======         ===========

                                  * * * * * *

                                     - 5 -

                                                                 SCHEDULE 1

THE EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN OF DIME COMMUNITY BANCORP, INC. AND CERTAIN
AFFILIATES

ITEM 27(a) SCHEDULE OF ASSETS HELD FOR INVESTMENT PURPOSES
YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1996

          (A)                     (B)                      ( C )                      (D)                (E)

  PARTIES IN INTEREST     IDENTITY OF ISSUER     DESCRIPTION OF INVESTMENT           COST              MARKET
- ----------------------- ---------------------- ----------------------------- -------------------- -----------------

                        Dime Community
Yes                        Bancorp, Inc.       Shares of common stock                 $11,638,000       $13,674,650

                                     - 6 -

                                                                 SCHEDULE 2

THE EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN OF DIME COMMUNITY BANCORP, INC. AND CERTAIN
AFFILIATES

ITEM 27(d) - SCHEDULE OF REPORTABLE TRANSACTIONS OR SERIES OF TRANSACTIONS IN
EXCESS OF 5% OF THE CURRENT VALUE OF PLAN ASSETS
YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1996

ITEM 1 - REPORTABLE SINGLE TRANSACTIONS IN EXCESS OF 5% OF THE CURRENT VALUE OF
PLAN ASSETS

                                                                                            CURRENT
                                                                        
                                                                                           VALUE OF
                                                                                           ASSET ON
     IDENTITY OF         DESCRIPTION       PURCHASE       SELLING         COST OF         TRANSACTION
   PARTY INVOLVED         OF ASSETS          PRICE         PRICE        INVESTMENT           DATE
- -------------------- ------------------ --------------  ------------ ----------------- ----------------

Dime Community
   Bancorp, Inc.     Common Stock               $10.00             -       $11,638,000       11,638,000

ITEM 2 - SERIES OF TRANSACTIONS IN EXCESS OF 5% OF THE CURRENT VALUE OF PLAN
ASSETS

None.

                                     - 7 -

SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements  of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Dime
Community Bancorp, Inc. and Certain  Affiliates  (the  Plan Administrator) duly
caused  this report to be signed on their behalf by the undersigned  thereunder
duly authorized.

Dated:  December 26, 1996              /s/ Vincent F.Palagiano
                                       Vincent F. Palagiano
                                       Chairman of the Board, President
                                        and Chief Executive Officer

Dated:  December 26, 1996 
                                       /s/ Kenneth J. Mahon
                                       Kenneth J. Mahon
                                       Senior Vice President
                                        and Chief Financial Officer

                                     - 8 -