Massive Trump sign, visible from NYS Thruway, gets OK to shine above Upstate NY city

Amsterdam, N.Y. — The skyline of a small city in Upstate New York now showcases a giant, illuminated political endorsement.

A massive “VOTE FOR TRUMP” sign atop the former Fownes factory in Amsterdam, a small city in the Capital Region, was officially lit Monday night. At 100 feet long and 12 feet high, the sign is the biggest non-billboard sign supporting former President Donald Trump in the United States and possibly the world, according to a spokesman for Sticker Mule, the company behind the giant letters.

The sign has sparked controversy in Amsterdam and has earned praise from Trump.

The message above 26 Elk St. was funded by Sticker PAC, a political action committee created in September by Anthony Constantino, the CEO of Sticker Mule. The Amsterdam company makes stickers, buttons and other custom gear.

After the sign was installed last week, Amsterdam officials went to court, arguing the sign violated city codes and posed a safety hazard to drivers on the nearby New York State Thruway.

“I don’t care what the sign says, but detracting the attention of drivers on the freeway is something that needs to be looked at and that’s what we’re doing,” Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti told The Amsterdam Recorder.

A Montgomery County judge barred the sign from being lit before a hearing, the New York Post reported. But the judge dropped the temporary restraining order after hearing arguments Monday afternoon, shortly before Sticker PAC’s pro-Trump lighting ceremony.

“It’s going to be one of those signs, like the Las Vegas sign or like the Hollywood sign, that people are going to want to come and see forever,” Constantino told The Amsterdam Recorder.

However, the legal battle isn’t necessarily over: Amsterdam’s lawyers have until Oct. 18 to refile documents that contained clerical mistakes, according to the New York Post.

In a video posted on Sticker Mule’s Instagram account, CEO Anthony Constantino explained what led his company to replace the famous Fownes sign.

When Fownes left Amsterdam and moved overseas, the company’s sign remained atop the abandoned building, serving as a “symbol of American manufacturing moving to China,” Constantino, an Amsterdam native, said.

“Throughout my life, the Fownes sign defined my hometown’s skyline,” he said. “It was clearly visible from the Thruway and seen by millions of people every year as they passed by or arrived to Amsterdam, New York.”

As Sticker Mule grew, Constantino said he worked to buy up Amsterdam’s empty manufacturing sites, including the dilapidated Fownes building.

For the past two years, Sticker Mule debated what to do with the Fownes sign. Constantino said his company decided to replace the rusty, patched letters with an “equally iconic and symbolic” piece of iconography: a mammoth sign supporting Trump.

The sign has caught more than the eyes of drivers passing by on the Thruway.

Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s oldest son, shared a Fox News story headlined “New York company unveils 100-foot ‘Vote for Trump’ sign, gets sued by Democratic mayor” Sunday on Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform.

On Monday, the former president responded to the news with gratitude.

“Thank you!” Trump wrote.

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