Exhibit 99.5


                               COHOES SAVINGS BANK
                                75 Remsen Street
                           Cohoes, New York 12047-2892
                                 (518) 233-6500


                     NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING OF DEPOSITORS
                           To Be Held on ______, 1998


         NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Special  Meeting of Depositors  ("Special
Meeting")   of  Cohoes   Savings   Bank  (the   "Bank")  will  be  held  at  the
_______________,  located  at  _______________,  Cohoes,  New York at _:___ p.m.
Eastern time, on ____________, 1998, to consider and vote upon approval of:

         The  Plan of  Conversion  ("Plan  of  Conversion"  or  "Plan")
         pursuant to which the Bank will be  converted  from a New York
         chartered  mutual savings bank to a New York  chartered  stock
         savings bank with the  concurrent  issuance and sale of all of
         the Bank's outstanding  capital stock to Cohoes Bancorp,  Inc.
         (the  "Company")  and the issuance  and sale of the  Company's
         common stock to the public;  and other  transactions  provided
         for  in the  Plan,  including  the  adoption  of the  Restated
         Organization  Certificate  and  Bylaws  of the  Bank  and  the
         establishment of the Cohoes Savings Foundation.

         The Board of Trustees  has fixed  _____ __,  1998 as the voting  record
date  ("Voting  Record  Date") for the  determination  of depositors of the Bank
entitled to notice of and to vote at the Special Meeting and at any postponement
or adjournment thereof. Only those depositors having aggregate deposits with the
Bank of $100 or more as of the close of business  on the Voting  Record Date are
Voting  Depositors of the Bank. Only Voting  Depositors will be entitled to vote
at the Special Meeting or any postponement or adjournment  thereof.  The Plan of
Conversion must be approved by the affirmative vote of (i) at least seventy-five
percent (75%) in amount of deposit liabilities of Voting Depositors  represented
in person or by proxy at the Special Meeting and (ii) at least a majority of the
amount of votes entitled to be cast at the Special Meeting by Voting Depositors.
If there are not  sufficient  votes for  approval of the Plan at the time of the
Special  Meeting,  the Special  Meeting may be  postponed or adjourned to permit
further solicitation of proxies.

         Whether  or not  you  plan  to  attend  the  Special  Meeting,  you are
requested to sign,  date and return the enclosed proxy card(s)  without delay in
the enclosed  postage-paid  envelope  marked "Proxy  Return" to ensure that your
vote will be counted even if you are unable to attend.



                                          By Order of the Board of Trustees


                                          ---------------------------------
                                          Secretary
Cohoes, New York
___________, 1998






                               COHOES SAVINGS BANK
                                75 Remsen Street
                           Cohoes, New York 12047-2892
                                 (518) 233-6500

                                 PROXY STATEMENT
                                     FOR THE
                    SPECIAL MEETING OF DEPOSITORS OF THE BANK
                          To Be Held On _________, 1998

THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF BANKS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK HAS  APPROVED THE PLAN OF
CONVERSION  SUBJECT TO THE  APPROVAL  OF THE BANK'S  VOTING  DEPOSITORS  AND THE
SATISFACTION  OF CERTAIN  OTHER  CONDITIONS.  HOWEVER,  SUCH  APPROVAL  DOES NOT
CONSTITUTE A  RECOMMENDATION  OR  ENDORSEMENT  OF THE PLAN OF  CONVERSION BY THE
SUPERINTENDENT.

Purpose of the Special Meeting

         This Proxy  Statement,  together with the Prospectus of Cohoes Bancorp,
Inc. (the "Company") attached hereto, constitutes the Proxy Statement for and is
being  furnished  to Voting  Depositors  of Cohoes  Savings Bank (the "Bank") in
connection with the solicitation by the Board of Trustees of the Bank of proxies
to be voted at the  Special  Meeting  of  Depositors  of the Bank (the  "Special
Meeting")  to be held on _____ __,  1998 at the  ______________________________,
located at __ __________,  ______,  New York, at _:__ _.m., Eastern time, and at
any postponement or adjournment  thereof.  The Special Meeting is being held for
the purpose of  considering  and voting upon  approval of the Plan of Conversion
(the  "Plan"  or "Plan of  Conversion"),  pursuant  to  which  the Bank  will be
converted from a New York chartered  mutual savings bank to a New York chartered
stock savings bank (the "Conversion")  with the concurrent  issuance and sale of
all of the Bank's outstanding  capital stock to the Company and the issuance and
sale of the Company's common stock, par value $0.01 per share to the public; and
other  transactions  contemplated by and provided for in the Plan of Conversion,
including the adoption of the Restated  Organization  Certificate  and Bylaws of
the  Bank  and  the   establishment  of  the  Cohoes  Savings   Foundation  (the
"Foundation")  which will be funded with an amount of the Company's common stock
equal to 3% of the Company's common stock sold in the Conversion.

         Voting for or against  approval  of the Plan of  Conversion  includes a
vote for or against the adoption of the Restated  Organization  Certificate  and
Bylaws of the Bank and establishment of the Foundation.

         Voting for  approval of the Plan of  Conversion  will not  obligate any
person to purchase  any of the  Company's  common  stock and will not affect the
balance, interest rate or federal deposit insurance of any deposits.


                                       P-1





         THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES  RECOMMENDS  THAT YOU VOTE "FOR" THE  APPROVAL OF
THE PLAN OF CONVERSION.

Voting Rights and Votes Required for Approval

         The Board of Trustees  has fixed  ______ __, 1998 as the voting  record
date ("Voting  Record  Date") for the  determination  of depositors  entitled to
notice  of and to  vote  at  the  Special  Meeting  or at  any  postponement  or
adjournment thereof. Only those depositors of the Bank having aggregate deposits
of $100 or more as of the close of  business  on the  Voting  Record  Date,  are
Voting  Depositors  of the  Bank.  Only  Voting  Depositors  of the Bank will be
entitled to vote at the Special Meeting or at any adjournment  thereof. The Plan
of  Conversion  must  be  approved  by the  affirmative  vote  of  (i) at  least
seventy-five percent (75%) in amount of deposit liabilities of Voting Depositors
represented  in person or by proxy at such  Special  Meeting and (ii) at least a
majority of the amount of votes  entitled to be cast at such Special  Meeting by
Voting Depositors. If there are not sufficient votes for approval of the Plan at
the time of the  Special  Meeting,  the  Special  Meeting  may be  postponed  or
adjourned to permit further solicitation of proxies.

         Each Voting  Depositor will be entitled at the Special  Meeting to cast
one vote for each $100 such Voting  Depositor had on deposit with the Bank as of
the Voting Record Date;  however,  no Voting  Depositor may cast more than 1,000
votes at the Special Meeting.  In general,  accounts held in different ownership
capacities  will be treated as separate  accounts  for  purposes of applying the
1,000 vote  limitation.  For example,  if two persons hold a $100,000 account in
their  joint  names and each of the  persons  also holds a separate  account for
$100,000 in their own name, each person would be entitled to 1,000 votes for the
separate  account and they would together be entitled to cast 1,000 votes on the
basis of the joint account.  The Bank's  records  indicate that as of the Voting
Record Date, there were approximately  ______ Voting Depositors entitled to cast
a total of _________ votes at the Special Meeting.

         Deposits held in trust or other fiduciary  capacity may be voted by the
trustee or other  fiduciary to whom voting rights are delegated  under the trust
instrument  or  other  governing  document  or  applicable  law.  In the case of
Individual  Retirement  Account and tax qualified plan  accounts,  such as Keogh
accounts  established at the Bank, the beneficiary may direct the trustee's vote
on the Plan of  Conversion  by  returning a proxy card to the Bank.  If no proxy
card is returned,  the Bank, as trustee,  will vote FOR the adoption of the Plan
of Conversion.

Proxies

         The Bank's Voting  Depositors may vote at the Special Meeting or at any
postponement or adjournment  thereof in person or by proxy.  Enclosed is a proxy
card  which  may be  used  by any  Voting  Depositor  to  vote  on the  Plan  of
Conversion.  The enclosed  proxy card may not be used for any other  meetings of
the Bank's  depositors.  All properly executed proxies received by the Bank will
be voted in  accordance  with the  instruction  indicated  thereon by the Voting
Depositor giving such proxies.  If no instructions  are given,  executed proxies
will be voted FOR the adoption of the Plan of Conversion.

                                       P-2




Revocability of Proxies

         A proxy may be revoked at any time before it is voted by filing written
revocation  of the proxy with the  Secretary of the Bank,  by  submitting a duly
executed  proxy bearing a later date or by attending and voting in person at the
Special Meeting or any  postponement or adjournment  thereof.  The presence of a
Voting  Depositor  at the  Special  Meeting  shall not  revoke a proxy  unless a
written  revocation  is filed  with the  Secretary  prior to the  voting of such
proxy. The proxies being solicited by the Board of Trustees of the Bank are only
for use at the Special Meeting or at any postponement or adjournment thereof and
will not be used at any other meeting.

Solicitation of Proxies and Tabulation of the Vote

           To the extent necessary to permit approval of the Plan of Conversion,
proxies may be  solicited by  officers,  trustees or  employees of the Bank,  by
telephone or through other forms of communication and, if necessary, the Special
Meeting may be  postponed  or  adjourned  to a later date.  Such persons will be
reimbursed by the Bank for their reasonable  out-of-pocket  expenses incurred in
connection with such solicitation. The Company has retained _________________ to
provide  solicitation of proxies and other services,  for a fee of $_______ plus
reimbursement of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. The Bank will bear all costs
of this solicitation.

           The  Board  of  Trustees   has   appointed   ________________________
("_____") as the  independent  custodian  and  tabulator to receive and hold the
proxy cards and to count the votes cast for and against both proposals.  Proxies
delivered  to the Bank at its branch  offices  will be  deposited  unopened  and
sealed in containers  that are  maintained  and  delivered  unopened in a sealed
state to _____ as custodian and tabulator.

Reasons for the Conversion

         See  "Summary"  and "The  Conversion  --  Purposes of  Conversion"  and
"--Effects of  Conversion"  in the  Prospectus  for discussion of the basis upon
which the Board of Trustees  determined  to approve the Plan of  Conversion.  As
more fully  discussed in those sections and in other sections of the Prospectus,
the  Board of  Trustees  believes  that the  Plan of  Conversion  is in the best
interests of the Bank, its depositors and the communities it serves.

Management of the Company and the Bank

           For information regarding the management of the Bank and the Company,
including  compensation-related  information,  see  "Management  of the  Holding
Company" and "Management of the Bank" in the Prospectus.

THE ATTACHED PROSPECTUS IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THIS PROXY STATEMENT AND CONTAINS
DETAILED  INFORMATION  ABOUT THE  BANK,  THE  COMPANY,  THE  FOUNDATION  AND THE
CONVERSION,  INCLUDING THE RIGHTS OF CERTAIN  DEPOSITORS TO SUBSCRIBE FOR SHARES
OF THE COMPANY'S  COMMON  STOCK.  VOTING  DEPOSITORS  ARE URGED TO CONSIDER SUCH
INFORMATION CAREFULLY PRIOR TO SUBMITTING THEIR PROXIES.


                                       P-3






                                 REVOCABLE PROXY

                               COHOES SAVINGS BANK
                          SPECIAL MEETING OF DEPOSITORS
                                __________, 1998

         The undersigned hereby appoints the Board of Trustees of Cohoes Savings
Bank. (the "Bank"), and its survivor, with full power of substitution, to act as
attorneys and proxies for all votes which the undersigned  depositor is entitled
to cast at the Special  Meeting of  Depositors  (the  "Meeting"),  to be held on
__________,  1998 at the main  office of the Bank  located at 75 Remsen  Street,
Cohoes,  New York, at _:__ P.M. New York time,  and at any and all  adjournments
thereof, as follows:


                                                        FOR             AGAINST
   The approval of the Plan of Conversion  (the         ---             -------
   "Plan"),  pursuant  to which  the Bank  will
   convert  from a New  York  chartered  mutual         [  ]              [  ]
   savings bank to a New York  chartered  stock
   savings bank,  with the concurrent  issuance
   of all  outstanding  shares  of its  capital
   stock  to   Cohoes   Bancorp,   Inc.,   (the
   "Company")  and the issuance and sale of the
   Company's  common  stock to the public;  and
   other transactions provided for in the Plan,
   including   the  adoption  of  the  Restated
   Organization  Certificate  and Bylaws of the
   Bank  and the  establishment  of the  Cohoes
   Savings Foundation.


In their  discretion,  the proxies are  authorized to vote on any other business
that may properly come before the Meeting or any adjournment thereof.

      The Board of Trustees recommends a vote "FOR" the listed proposals.



THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED AS DIRECTED, BUT IF NO INSTRUCTIONS ARE SPECIFIED, THIS
PROXY WILL BE VOTED FOR THE PROPOSALS STATED. IF ANY OTHER BUSINESS IS PRESENTED
AT SUCH MEETING,  THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED BY THOSE NAMED IN THIS PROXY IN THEIR
BEST  JUDGMENT.  AT THE PRESENT  TIME,  THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES  KNOWS OF NO OTHER
BUSINESS TO BE PRESENTED AT THE MEETING.





           THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES


         The  depositor  may revoke this proxy by: (i) filing with the Secretary
of the Bank at or before the Meeting a written  notice of  revocation  bearing a
later date than the proxy;  (ii) duly  executing a subsequent  proxy relating to
the same shares and  delivering it to the Secretary of the Bank at or before the
Meeting;  or  (iii)  attending  the  Meeting  and  voting  in  person  (although
attendance at the Meeting will not in and of itself  constitute  revocation of a
proxy).

         The  undersigned  acknowledges  receipt  from  the  Bank,  prior to the
execution of this Proxy, of Notice of the Meeting and a Proxy Statement dated on
or about __________, 1998.




                                                 Dated: ________________________




                                                 _______________________________
                                                 PRINT NAME OF DEPOSITOR



                                                 _______________________________
                                                 SIGNATURE OF DEPOSITOR


IMPORTANT:  Please  sign your name  exactly as it appears on this  proxy.  Joint
accounts need only one  signature.  When signing as an attorney,  administrator,
agent,  corporation,  officer,  executor,  trustee or guardian, etc., please add
your full title to your signature.

NOTE:   IF YOU  RECEIVE  MORE THAN ONE PROXY  CARD,  PLEASE  SIGN AND RETURN ALL
        CARDS IN THE ACCOMPANYING ENVELOPE.

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          PLEASE PROMPTLY COMPLETE, DATE, SIGN AND MAIL THIS PROXY IN
                       THE ENCLOSED POSTAGE-PAID ENVELOPE
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