Ownership Submission
FORM 4
Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
OMB APPROVAL
OMB Number: 3235-0287
Expires: January 31, 2005
Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5

(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
LIPKIN GERALD H
  2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
VALLEY NATIONAL BANCORP [VLY]
5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
__X__ Director _____ 10% Owner
__X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
Chairman, President and CEO
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
1455 VALLEY ROAD
3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year)
02/08/2010
(Street)

WAYNE, NJ 07470-
4. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 3)
2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 3. Transaction Code
(Instr. 8)
4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D)
(Instr. 3, 4 and 5)
5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s)
(Instr. 3 and 4)
6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 4)
7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 4)
Code V Amount (A) or (D) Price
Common Stock 02/08/2010   F   1,021 D $ 13.15 244,879 D  
Common Stock 02/08/2010   S   16,900 (1) D $ 13.3126 227,979 D  
Common Stock 02/09/2010   S   47,100 (1) D $ 13.3044 180,879 D  
Common Stock               6,000 I Spouse - Roth IRA
Common Stock               185,559 I Wife
Common Stock (401k Plan) (2)               2,755 D  
Common Stock (Roth IRA)               50,610 D  
Common Stock (with Spouse)               134 D  

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number. SEC 1474 (9-02)

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 3)
2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 4. Transaction Code
(Instr. 8)
5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D)
(Instr. 3, 4, and 5)
6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)
7. Title and Amount of Underlying Securities
(Instr. 3 and 4)
8. Price of Derivative Security
(Instr. 5)
9. Number of Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s)
(Instr. 4)
10. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 4)
11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 4)
Code V (A) (D) Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares
Stock Option/NQ $ 18.9714             02/15/2002 02/15/2012 Common Stock 26,628   26,628 D  
Stock Options $ 18.9714             02/15/2002 02/15/2012 Common Stock 1,514   1,514 D  
Stock Options $ 18.2286             03/01/2004 03/01/2013 Common Stock 9,849   9,849 D  
Stock Options $ 20.9524             02/26/2005 02/26/2014 Common Stock 26,803   26,803 D  
Stock Options $ 20.9905             02/08/2006 02/08/2015 Common Stock 25,527   25,527 D  
Stock Options $ 19.9429             02/15/2007 02/15/2016 Common Stock 30,388   30,388 D  
Stock Options $ 22.4095             02/13/2008 02/13/2017 Common Stock 40,517   40,517 D  
Stock Options $ 16.9619             02/12/2009 02/12/2018 Common Stock 38,587   38,587 D  

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
 Director  10% Owner  Officer  Other
LIPKIN GERALD H
1455 VALLEY ROAD
WAYNE, NJ 07470-
  X     Chairman, President and CEO  

Signatures

 /s/ MITCHELL L. CRANDELL, AS ATTORNEY-IN-FACT   02/09/2010
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) This sale of Valley common stock was of shares held in personal accounts by either Mr. Lipkin or his wife. Recently, Mr. Lipkin authorized the custodian for his and his wife's recently opened Roth 401K accounts to purchase in the open market Valley common shares as part of the assets in the account. As part of his financial planning, the reporting person developed a program to buy shares in the Roth 401(k) without increasing his and his wife's overall ownership of Valley common shares, and these personally held shares were sold to bring the level of overall ownership back closer to previous levels. All personal shares were sold at a price lower than any shares recently purchased in the Roth 401(k) accounts by either Mr. Lipkin or his wife to avoid a short swing profit issue
(2) Holdings under the Valley 401K Plan has been updated to reflect reporting officer's balance in the Plan.

Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.

Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB number.