The question that New Paltz residents have been holding in is, “Who keeps altering the signs at Putt Corners Road?” Whenever there’s an unofficial update, local Facebook groups light up to decry the vandals, cheer the artists and critique the comedy.
North and South Putt Corners roads are a misspelling of an area of town that was called “Put Corners” before the village was incorporated, ruining the fun of going from Butterville to Jenkinstown as if the town was part of a Virginia Lee Burton book. It’s not clear when the extra letter was added, but it’s become a focal point for one or more individuals, allowing them to change the ‘P’ to a ‘B’ in order to create Butt Corners instead. The juvenile joke has been covered in various news outlets, and when two clever folks transformed themselves into the pair of modified road signs and marched in the Halloween parade, it seemed like everyone wanted a selfie with them.
A more recent addition, though, was not as well-received. Spray-painting the word “ass” onto the sign was welcomed by some social media users, but others see it as reductive. There remains a certain portion of the community for whom vandalism is vandalism; it’s clear from their online reactions that these shenanigans are downright infuriating.
Putt Corners is a county road as confirmed by Amberly Jane Campbell, assistant deputy county executive. Reached via email for comment, Campbell responded, “we do not know who is altering the sign. I highly doubt it’s always the same person or group of people.”
Some local residents claim to have cameras trained on the area, and Campbell was pressed for information consequences — should the perpetrators be caught sitting down on the job. “The ‘crime’ would be defacing a county sign,” Campbell confirmed, which is considered vandalism. In New York, that could be charged as either criminal mischief or criminal tampering. Both have a range of degrees that’s based on the intent and the cost to repair, among other factors.
As for the consequences to the public purse, Campbell wrote, “It would be UC DPW [Ulster County Department of Public Works personnel] who would change it back, as it is a county sign. However, we have not received any complaints on the edit to these signs, which to my knowledge have been being altered — much to the chagrin of locals and visitors alike — for decades; since at least the ’70s or ’80s, if not before.
“For me personally,” Campbell continued, “as someone born and bred here, I think it’s a unifying local tradition, a grassroots gesture that reminds people not to take life too seriously, and that we can all (or most of us, anyway) share a laugh in this stressful world.
“No ifs, ands, or Butts about it, it always gives me a chuckle.”
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