Exhibit 31.1

                     Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification

I, Stephen V. Maroney, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Gyrodyne Company of
America, Inc. (the "Company");

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. As the Company's sole certifying officer, I am responsible for establishing
and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act
Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as
defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the Company and have:

     (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under my supervision, to
ensure that material information relating to the Company, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to me by others within those entities,
particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

     (b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such
internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision,
to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles;

     (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and
procedures and presented in this report my conclusions about the effectiveness
of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered
by this report, based on such evaluation; and

     (d) Disclosed in this report any change in the Company's internal control
over financial reporting that occurred during the Company's most recent fiscal
quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting; and

5. As the Company's sole certifying officer, I have disclosed, based on my most
recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the Company's
auditors and the audit committee of the Company's board of directors (or persons
performing the equivalent functions):

     (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably
likely to adversely affect the Company's ability to record, process, summarize
and report financial information; and

     (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
employees who have a significant role in the Company's internal control over
financial reporting.


Date: February 18, 2009

                                    /S/ Stephen V. Maroney
                                    ----------------------
                                    Stephen V. Maroney,
                                    President, Chief Executive Officer
                                    and Chief Financial Officer