It was an early win for Donald Trump.
Supporters of the former president in upstate New York won a last-minute court victory allowing them to illuminate a 100-foot wide “Vote for Trump” sign — despite their city’s effort to block the massive political endorsement.
Anthony Constantino — the CEO of manufacturing company Sticker Mule who has a political action committee supporting the Republican presidential nominee — will move forward with a rally Monday evening to officially unveil the sign that sits atop his firm’s building.
“We are all set to light it up!” Constantino told The Post by text of the ruling that came down less than two hours before the 7 p.m. event.
Lawyers for Amsterdam, a municipality of about 18,000 some 35 miles northwest of Albany, claimed in a lawsuit last week that the signage violated city code and could be a safety hazard by distracting passing drivers.
Montgomery County Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Slezak had issued a ruling that would have barred the giant letters from being lit until at least a Tuesday morning hearing.
But the judge lifted the temporary restraining order in the nick of time, after hearing oral arguments on the case, ending at around 5:30 p.m. Monday.
“My lawyers told me that I’m within my rights to go ahead as planned,” Constantino said.
Sal Ferlazzo, Constantino’s lawyer and general counsel for Sticker Mule, confirmed that the judge agreed to vacate her prior order on the grounds that the sign is sufficiently far from highways and doesn’t pose a danger.
“All I know is tonight the party is on and the lighting will occur and there is no court order prohibiting the lighting and display of the sign,” Ferlazzo said. “So it’s obviously a nice victory for Anthony and his team.”
Lawyers for Amsterdam have until Oct. 18 to refile their papers after the judge found there were clerical mistakes in the documents.
Constantino said he thinks thousands of people may show up for the rally, which will feature guest speakers including local politicians, Republican activist Joe Pinion, MMA fighter Tracy Cortez and two former UFC champions, Kelvin Gastelum and Henry Cejudo.
Lawyers for the city, helmed by Democratic Mayor Michael Cinquanti, claimed in their suit that a code officer notified Sticker Mule in August that it would need a permit and additional zoning variances in order to install the sign. But the company allegedly never reached out again, court papers alleged.
In fact, it wasn’t until Oct. 1 that Code Enforcement Officer Grant Egelston noticed “a new sign appeared to be under a tarp” at the 26 Elk Street building owned by Sticker Mule, according to Egelston’s affidavit.
The city slapped Sticker Mule with a “Notice of Violation and Order to Remedy” on Thursday for allegedly breaking the zoning rule barring signs on rooftops and for having too large of a sign, the filing claimed.
The city claimed that the “sign presents a dangerous distraction and impacts traffic flow” for local streets and major highways including Route 5 and Route 90.
“These dangerous distractions are further exacerbated by the novelty of the sign” that could prompt people to stop and take selfies with it “all at the risk of injuring other operaters and/or passengers in traveling vehicles,” the affidavit claims.
Constantino claimed the safety argument was “a ridiculous argument by a Democratic politician,” noting that large signs and landmarks exist all over our country without issue.
“People like beautiful signs, they are all over the country and people know how to drive cars.”
Constantino said he originally wanted to erect the sign to be a symbol of the Republican presidential nominee’s message to move manufacturing back to America and of an underdog overcoming adversity. But it’s recently turned into a symbol of fighting for free speech.
He claimed Democrats “want to get rid of free speech and sensor America and so the sign now signifies something even bigger than what I thought … In America, I got a First Amendment right.”
“It’s my building, it’s a beautiful sign and whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, the sign is an uplifting thing for community enthusiasm,” Constantino said.
An Amsterdam lawyer and the mayor’s office both didn’t return requests for comment Monday.
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