The village is located in the south part of the town of Russia and is northeast of Utica.

The water power of Cold Brook encouraged settlers, who arrived after 1800.

The 1857 Cold Brook Feed Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

[4] According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.44 square miles (1.14 km2), all land.

The main street of Cold Brook is New York State Route 8, which leads northeast 46 miles (74 km) to Speculator in the Adirondacks and southwest 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to Poland.