Contact Person:                                                   June 26, 2000
Carl A. Florio, President

                HUDSON RIVER BANCORP FILES REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                       AND ANNOUNCES COMMITMENT TO COHOES
                                MERGER OF EQUALS


         Hudson River Bancorp,  Inc.  (Nasdaq NMS: HRBT) announced today that it
had received an unsolicited acquisition proposal from TrustCo Bank Corp NY. This
proposal  offered to exchange the outstanding  shares of Hudson River for shares
of TrustCo equal to $14.00 per share. The Hudson River board of directors, after
considering its duties and responsibilities to shareholders, including the price
of the  proposal,  decided  not to pursue  any  discussions  with  TrustCo.  The
unsolicited  proposal was contingent  upon,  among other  factors,  Hudson River
terminating its merger of equals agreement with Cohoes Bancorp, Inc.

         Carl A. Florio,  President of Hudson River,  stated:  "The  unsolicited
third party proposal is not unexpected. We knew at the time that we entered into
our merger of equals arrangement with Cohoes that a number of other institutions
would be  fearful  that our  partnership  with  Cohoes  could  create a dominant
community banking  institution in our region.  It is  understandable  that other
institutions would try to upset our transaction. Indeed, given the nature of the
proposal  received,  we  view  it  more  as an  attempt  to  impede  the  Hudson
River/Cohoes  merger than a bona fide attempt to acquire Hudson River. We remain
fully  committed  to our  merger  of  equals  with  Cohoes  and  will  take  all
appropriate action to prevent others from interfering with this transaction."

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

         When  used  in  this  press   release  or  other   public   shareholder
communications,  or in oral  statements  made with the approval of an authorized
executive officer, the words or phrases "will likely result," "are expected to,"
"will continue," "is anticipated,"  "estimate,"  "project,"  "significantly"  or
similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities  Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Cohoes and
Hudson  River  wish to  caution  readers  not to  place  undue  reliance  on any
forward-looking statements,  which speak only as of the date made, and to advise
readers  that  various  factors   including   regional  and  national   economic
conditions,  changes in levels of market interest rates, credit risks of lending
activities  and  competitive  and  regulatory  factors could affect the combined
banking  operations'   financial   performance  and  could  cause  the  combined
companies'  actual  results for future periods to differ  materially  from those
anticipated or projected.

         Cohoes and Hudson River do not undertake,  and  specifically  disclaim,
any obligation to publicly  release the result of any revisions that may be made
to any  forward-looking  statements to reflect the  occurrence of anticipated or
unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.







         Hudson  River is  filing  today a  Registration  Statement  on Form S-4
concerning the merger with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which
includes  the joint  merger  proxy  statement/prospectus  that will be mailed to
shareholders  WE URGE  INVESTORS  TO READ THESE  DOCUMENTS  BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors may obtain the documents free of charge, at the
SEC's website,  www.sec.gov. In addition, documents filed with the SEC by Hudson
River will be available free of charge from the Secretary of Hudson River at One
Hudson City Centre, Hudson, New York, 12534, telephone (518) 828-4600. Documents
filed with the SEC by Cohoes will be available free of charge from the Secretary
of Cohoes at 75 Remsen  Street,  Cohoes,  New York 12047,  telephone  (518) 233-
6500.  INVESTORS  SHOULD  READ THE  JOINT  MERGER  PROXY  STATEMENT/  PROSPECTUS
CAREFULLY BEFORE MAKING A DECISION  CONCERNING THE MERGER.  Copies of all recent
proxy  statements  and annual reports are also available free of charge from the
respective companies by contacting the company secretary.

         Cohoes and Hudson River and their  respective  directors  and executive
officers  may be deemed to be  participants  in the  solicitation  of proxies to
approve the Merger.  INFORMATION  ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS MAY BE OBTAINED THROUGH
THE SEC'S  WEBSITE FROM THE S-4 FILED WITH THE SEC ON JUNE 26, 2000 WITH RESPECT
TO  HUDSON  RIVER  AND THE  DEFINITIVE  PROXY  STATEMENT  FILED  WITH THE SEC ON
SEPTEMBER 24, 1999 WITH RESPECT TO COHOES.

CONTACTS:                  Hudson River Bancorp
                           Carl A. Florio
                           President & Chief Executive Officer
                           Phone:  (518) 828-4600

                           Cohoes Bancorp, Inc.
                           Harry L. Robinson
                           President & Chief Executive Officer
                           Phone:  (518) 233-6500