As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 2, 2003
                                                        Registration No. 333-
================================================================================
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                           FIRST ALBANY COMPANIES INC.
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)



                New York                                 22-2655804
     (State or Other Jurisdiction of                  (I.R.S. Employer
     Incorporation or Organization)                Identification Number)

                               30 S. Pearl Street
                           Albany, New York 12207-1599
                                 (518) 447-8500
              (Address of Registrant's Principal Executive Offices)

                           FIRST ALBANY COMPANIES INC.
                     2003 NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTORS STOCK PLAN

                            (Full Title of the Plans)

                              Stephen P. Wink, Esq.
                          Secretary and General Counsel
                           First Albany Companies Inc.
                               30 S. Pearl Street
                           Albany, New York 12207-1599
                                 (518) 447-8500

           (Name, Address, and Telephone Number of Agent for Service)


                           Copy of communications to:

                              Arthur H. Kohn, Esq.
                       Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton
                                One Liberty Plaza
                            New York, New York 10006
                                 (212) 225-2000


                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
<TABLE>

=======================================================================================================
                                                Proposed maximum   Proposed maximum
    Title of securities         Amount to be     offering price       aggregate         Amount of
      to be registered          registered (1)       per share      offering price   registration fee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>           <C>                    <C>             <C>                <C>                <C>
Common Stock, $.01 par value         4,000           $8.81 (2)          $35,240            $2.86
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock, $.01 par value        96,000          $9.625 (3)         $924,000           $74.76
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>

 (1)  This Registration Statement covers 100,000 shares of Common Stock issuable
      upon exercise of options or covered under other awards granted pursuant to
      the First Albany Companies Inc. 2003 Non-Employee Directors Stock Plan
      plus any additional shares of Common Stock which will become issuable
      under such plan by reason of any stock dividend, stock split,
      recapitalization or other similar transaction. This Registration Statement
      also covers the rights (the "Rights") attached to each share of Common
      Stock pursuant to the Rights Agreement dated March 30, 1998. Until the
      occurrence of certain specified events, the Rights are not exercisable,
      are evidenced by the certificates representing the shares and may be
      transferred only together with the shares.

(2)   With respect to 4,000 shares covered by options granted prior to the
      filing of this Registration Statement, calculated pursuant to Rule 457(h)
      under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), based
      on the price at which the options may be exercised.

(3)   With respect to 96,000 shares subject to future options grants, estimated
      solely for the purpose of determining the amount of the registration fee
      in accordance with Rule 457(h) under the Securities Act and based upon the
      average of the high ($9.77) and low ($9.48) prices of the Common Stock as
      reported on the NASDAQ National Exchange on May 23, 2003.

<PAGE>
                                     Part II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.  Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

         The following documents which have been filed by First Albany Companies
Inc. (the "Registrant") with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission") are incorporated by reference herein and made a part hereof:

         (a)      The Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
                  year ended December 31, 2002, filed with the Commission on
                  March 28, 2003;

         (b)      The Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
                  ended March 31, 2003, filed with the Commission on May 15,
                  2003;

         (c)      The Registrant's Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the
                  Commission on March 19, 2003, April 23, 2003 and May 5,
                  2003;

         (d)      All other reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section
                  13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
                  as amended (the "Exchange Act"), since December 31, 2002; and

         (e)      The description of the Registrant's shares of Common Stock
                  (the "Shares") contained in the Registrant's Registration
                  Statement on Form 8A, filed with the Commission pursuant to
                  Section 12 of the Exchange Act on January 14, 1986, and any
                  amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such
                  description.

         All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section
13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that all
securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all such
securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date
of filing of such reports or other documents.

         Any statements contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be
incorporated herein by reference shall be deemed to be modified or superseded
for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement
contained herein (or in any subsequently filed document which also is
incorporated or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein) modifies or
supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall
not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this
Registration Statement.

Item 4.  Description of Securities.

         Not applicable.

Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

         Not applicable.

Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

         Article 6.07 of the Registrant's By-Laws permits the indemnification of
officers and directors under certain circumstances to the full extent that such
indemnification may be permitted by law.

         Such rights of indemnification are in addition to, and not in
limitation of, any rights to indemnification to which any officer or director of
the Registrant is entitled under the Business Corporation Law of the State of
New York (Sections 721 through 726), which provides for indemnification by a
corporation of its officers and directors under certain circumstances as stated
in the Business Corporation Law and subject to specified limitations set forth
in the Business Corporation Law. The Registrant has also purchased director and
officer liability insurance.

Item 7.  Exemption From Registration Claimed.

         Not applicable.

Item 8.  Exhibits.

         Exhibits. See the Exhibit Index immediately following the signature
 page hereto.

Item 9.  Undertakings.

         (1)  The Registrant hereby undertakes:

                  (a) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

                  (i)    To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3)
                         of the Securities Act;

                  (ii)   To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
                         arising after the effective date of this Registration
                         Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment
                         thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate,
                         represent a fundamental change in the information set
                         forth in this Registration Statement; and

                  (iii)  To include any material information with respect to the
                         plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this
                         Registration Statement or any material change to such
                         information in this Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (1)(a)(i) and (1)(a)(ii) do not apply if the
information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those
paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the
Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act
that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

                  (b) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under
the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

                  (c) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

         (2) The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining
any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual
report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where
applicable, each filing of the employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

         (3) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such
indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and
is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification
against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses
incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant
in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final
adjudication of such issue.

<PAGE>
                                   SIGNATURES

                  Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933,
the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets
all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this
Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned , thereunto
duly authorized, in the City of Albany and the State of New York on the 2nd day
of June, 2003.


                         FIRST ALBANY COMPANIES INC.
                         By
                              /s/ Alan P. Goldberg
                              ------------------------------------------------
                              Name: Alan P. Goldberg
                              Title: President and Co-Chief Executive Officer

<PAGE>

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

          Know all men by these presents, that each officer or director
of First Albany Companies Inc. whose signature appears below constitutes and
appoints George C. McNamee and Alan P. Goldberg, and each of them acting singly,
as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full and several
power of substitution, to sign for him and in his name, place and stead in any
and all capacities indicated below, the Registration Statement on Form S-8 field
herewith and any and all pre-effective and post-effective amendments and
supplements to the said Registration Statement, and to file the same, with
exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and
agent, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing
requisite and necessary fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or
could do in person hereby ratifying and confirming all that said
attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute, may lawfully do or cause
to be done by virtue hereof.

          Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933,
this Registration Statement has been signed by each of the following persons in
the capacities and on the dates indicated.

<TABLE>

<S>            <C>                                     <C>                                     <C>
               Signature                               Title                                   Date
               ---------                               -----                                   ----


         /s/ George C. McNamee                                                              June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
           George C. McNamee                 Director, Chairman of the Board and
                                            Co-Chief Executive Officer (Principal
                                                      Executive Officer)

         /s/ Alan P. Goldberg                                                               June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
            Alan P. Goldberg                   Director, President and Co-Chief
                                                      Executive Officer

        /s/ Steven R. Jenkins                                                               June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
           Steven R. Jenkins                  Chief Financial Officer (Principal
                                               Financial Officer and Principal
                                                     Accounting Officer)

      /s/ Walter W. Fiederowicz                                                             June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
         Walter W. Fiederowicz                             Director


    /s/ Nicholas A. Gravante, Jr.                                                           June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
       Nicholas A. Gravante, Jr.                           Director


        /s/ Hugh A. Johnson, Jr.                                                            June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
          Hugh A. Johnson, Jr.                             Director


            /s/ Dale Kutnick                                                                June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
              Dale Kutnick                                 Director


         /s/ Shannon P. O'Brien                                                             June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
           Shannon P. O'Brien                              Director
</TABLE>


<PAGE>

<TABLE>

                                  EXHIBIT INDEX

  Exhibit No.                             Description                                       Method of Filing
  -----------                             -----------                                       ----------------
<S>              <C>                                                             <C>
5                Opinion of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton as to the         Filed herewith
                 legality of the securities being registered

10               First Albany Companies Inc. 2003 Non-Employee Directors Stock   Filed herewith
                 Plan

23.1             Consent of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton                   Contained in the opinion filed as
                                                                                 Exhibit 5

23.2             Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP                           Filed herewith

24               Power of Attorney                                               Included on the signature page

</TABLE>
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{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "FIRST ALBANY COMPANIES INC", "cik": "0000782842", "assigned-sic": "6211", "irs-number": "222655804", "state-of-incorporation": "NY", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-105772", "film-number": "03728123"}, "business-address": {"street1": "30 S PEARL ST", "city": "ALBANY", "state": "NY", "zip": "12207", "phone": "5184478673"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "30 S. PEARL STREET", "city": "ALBANY", "state": "NY", "zip": "12207"}}
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 2, 2003
                                                        Registration No. 333-
================================================================================
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                           FIRST ALBANY COMPANIES INC.
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

                New York                                 22-2655804
     (State or Other Jurisdiction of                  (I.R.S. Employer
     Incorporation or Organization)                Identification Number)

                               30 S. Pearl Street
                           Albany, New York 12207-1599
                                 (518) 447-8500
              (Address of Registrant's Principal Executive Offices)

                           FIRST ALBANY COMPANIES INC.
                     2003 NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTORS STOCK PLAN

                            (Full Title of the Plans)

                              Stephen P. Wink, Esq.
                          Secretary and General Counsel
                           First Albany Companies Inc.
                               30 S. Pearl Street
                           Albany, New York 12207-1599
                                 (518) 447-8500

           (Name, Address, and Telephone Number of Agent for Service)

                           Copy of communications to:

                              Arthur H. Kohn, Esq.
                       Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton
                                One Liberty Plaza
                            New York, New York 10006
                                 (212) 225-2000

                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

=======================================================================================================
                                                Proposed maximum   Proposed maximum
    Title of securities         Amount to be     offering price       aggregate         Amount of
      to be registered          registered (1)       per share      offering price   registration fee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock, $.01 par value         4,000           $8.81 (2)          $35,240            $2.86
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock, $.01 par value        96,000          $9.625 (3)         $924,000           $74.76
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1)  This Registration Statement covers 100,000 shares of Common Stock issuable
      upon exercise of options or covered under other awards granted pursuant to
      the First Albany Companies Inc. 2003 Non-Employee Directors Stock Plan
      plus any additional shares of Common Stock which will become issuable
      under such plan by reason of any stock dividend, stock split,
      recapitalization or other similar transaction. This Registration Statement
      also covers the rights (the "Rights") attached to each share of Common
      Stock pursuant to the Rights Agreement dated March 30, 1998. Until the
      occurrence of certain specified events, the Rights are not exercisable,
      are evidenced by the certificates representing the shares and may be
      transferred only together with the shares.

(2)   With respect to 4,000 shares covered by options granted prior to the
      filing of this Registration Statement, calculated pursuant to Rule 457(h)
      under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), based
      on the price at which the options may be exercised.

(3)   With respect to 96,000 shares subject to future options grants, estimated
      solely for the purpose of determining the amount of the registration fee
      in accordance with Rule 457(h) under the Securities Act and based upon the
      average of the high ($9.77) and low ($9.48) prices of the Common Stock as
      reported on the NASDAQ National Exchange on May 23, 2003.
Part II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.  Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

         The following documents which have been filed by First Albany Companies
Inc. (the "Registrant") with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission") are incorporated by reference herein and made a part hereof:

         (a)      The Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
                  year ended December 31, 2002, filed with the Commission on
                  March 28, 2003;

         (b)      The Registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
                  ended March 31, 2003, filed with the Commission on May 15,
                  2003;

         (c)      The Registrant's Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the
                  Commission on March 19, 2003, April 23, 2003 and May 5,
                  2003;

         (d)      All other reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section
                  13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
                  as amended (the "Exchange Act"), since December 31, 2002; and

         (e)      The description of the Registrant's shares of Common Stock
                  (the "Shares") contained in the Registrant's Registration
                  Statement on Form 8A, filed with the Commission pursuant to
                  Section 12 of the Exchange Act on January 14, 1986, and any
                  amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such
                  description.

         All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section
13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that all
securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all such
securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date
of filing of such reports or other documents.

         Any statements contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be
incorporated herein by reference shall be deemed to be modified or superseded
for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement
contained herein (or in any subsequently filed document which also is
incorporated or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein) modifies or
supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall
not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this
Registration Statement.

Item 4.  Description of Securities.

         Not applicable.

Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

         Not applicable.

Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

         Article 6.07 of the Registrant's By-Laws permits the indemnification of
officers and directors under certain circumstances to the full extent that such
indemnification may be permitted by law.

         Such rights of indemnification are in addition to, and not in
limitation of, any rights to indemnification to which any officer or director of
the Registrant is entitled under the Business Corporation Law of the State of
New York (Sections 721 through 726), which provides for indemnification by a
corporation of its officers and directors under certain circumstances as stated
in the Business Corporation Law and subject to specified limitations set forth
in the Business Corporation Law. The Registrant has also purchased director and
officer liability insurance.

Item 7.  Exemption From Registration Claimed.

         Not applicable.

Item 8.  Exhibits.

         Exhibits. See the Exhibit Index immediately following the signature
 page hereto.

Item 9.  Undertakings.

         (1)  The Registrant hereby undertakes:

                  (a) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

                  (i)    To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3)
                         of the Securities Act;

                  (ii)   To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
                         arising after the effective date of this Registration
                         Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment
                         thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate,
                         represent a fundamental change in the information set
                         forth in this Registration Statement; and

                  (iii)  To include any material information with respect to the
                         plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this
                         Registration Statement or any material change to such
                         information in this Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (1)(a)(i) and (1)(a)(ii) do not apply if the
information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those
paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the
Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act
that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

                  (b) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under
the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

                  (c) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

         (2) The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining
any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual
report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where
applicable, each filing of the employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

         (3) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such
indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and
is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification
against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses
incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant
in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final
adjudication of such issue.
SIGNATURES

                  Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933,
the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets
all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this
Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned , thereunto
duly authorized, in the City of Albany and the State of New York on the 2nd day
of June, 2003.

                         FIRST ALBANY COMPANIES INC.
                         By
                              /s/ Alan P. Goldberg
                              ------------------------------------------------
                              Name: Alan P. Goldberg
                              Title: President and Co-Chief Executive Officer
POWER OF ATTORNEY

          Know all men by these presents, that each officer or director
of First Albany Companies Inc. whose signature appears below constitutes and
appoints George C. McNamee and Alan P. Goldberg, and each of them acting singly,
as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full and several
power of substitution, to sign for him and in his name, place and stead in any
and all capacities indicated below, the Registration Statement on Form S-8 field
herewith and any and all pre-effective and post-effective amendments and
supplements to the said Registration Statement, and to file the same, with
exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and
agent, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing
requisite and necessary fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or
could do in person hereby ratifying and confirming all that said
attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute, may lawfully do or cause
to be done by virtue hereof.

          Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933,
this Registration Statement has been signed by each of the following persons in
the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature                               Title                                   Date
               ---------                               -----                                   ----

         /s/ George C. McNamee                                                              June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
           George C. McNamee                 Director, Chairman of the Board and
                                            Co-Chief Executive Officer (Principal
                                                      Executive Officer)

         /s/ Alan P. Goldberg                                                               June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
            Alan P. Goldberg                   Director, President and Co-Chief
                                                      Executive Officer

        /s/ Steven R. Jenkins                                                               June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
           Steven R. Jenkins                  Chief Financial Officer (Principal
                                               Financial Officer and Principal
                                                     Accounting Officer)

      /s/ Walter W. Fiederowicz                                                             June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
         Walter W. Fiederowicz                             Director

    /s/ Nicholas A. Gravante, Jr.                                                           June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
       Nicholas A. Gravante, Jr.                           Director

        /s/ Hugh A. Johnson, Jr.                                                            June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
          Hugh A. Johnson, Jr.                             Director

            /s/ Dale Kutnick                                                                June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
              Dale Kutnick                                 Director

         /s/ Shannon P. O'Brien                                                             June 2, 2002
-----------------------------------------                                             --------------------------
           Shannon P. O'Brien                              Director
EXHIBIT INDEX

  Exhibit No.                             Description                                       Method of Filing
  -----------                             -----------                                       ----------------
5                Opinion of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton as to the         Filed herewith
                 legality of the securities being registered

10               First Albany Companies Inc. 2003 Non-Employee Directors Stock   Filed herewith
                 Plan

23.1             Consent of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton                   Contained in the opinion filed as
                                                                                 Exhibit 5

23.2             Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP                           Filed herewith

24               Power of Attorney                                               Included on the signature page