East of NY 96, the highway continues across largely open areas of Fayette and Varick, serving little more than farms and the occasional house as it heads along the town line.

At this point, the Fayette–Varick town line turns north to follow NY 414 for a half-mile (0.8 km) before resuming its easterly trek across the county.

[4] On November 5, 1920, the state of New York awarded a contract to rebuild the Fayette–Varick town line road between MacDougall and what is now NY 96.

The new state road curved northwest from the town line for a short distance before heading north toward East Geneva on modern NY 96A.

[5][7] In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, hundreds of state-maintained roads were given signed numbers for the first time.