{"id":377459,"date":"2026-10-20T00:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T00:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/377459\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T00:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T00:54:13","slug":"nys-worker-caught-on-video-removing-gop-lawn-sign-but-officials-say-he-followed-the-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/377459\/","title":{"rendered":"NYS worker caught on video removing GOP lawn sign &#8212; but officials say he followed the law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A state worker was caught on camera<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/14\/us-news\/long-island-vandals-target-gop-campaign-signs-scrawl-f-k-ice-on-american-flag\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> removing a lawn sign backing a Republican congressional candidate <\/a>\u2014 but officials said it was plopped without permission onto state property on Long Island.<\/p>\n<p>Viral images show Department of Transportation employee in a reflective vest pulling a \u201cMike LiPetri for Congress\u201d sign out of the ground and tossing it into the back of a government truck in Oyster Bay.<\/p>\n<p>The images sparked outrage from LiPetri, who is running against incumbent Democrat Tom Suozzi for his seat in the House of Representatives, as well as other conservatives who took the removal as targeting GOP signs.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.75;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"   data-modal-image=\"41393504\" width=\"443\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/long-island-dot-worker-sparks-145613904.jpg\" alt=\"A Department of Transportation worker removes a Mike LiPetri campaign sign in Oyster Bay.\" class=\"wp-image-41393504\"\/>A Long Island Department of Transportation worker removes a campaign sign for Republican candidate for Congress Mike LiPetri in the Town of Oyster Bay. kevin smith\/X<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes someone want to explain to me why New York State Transportation workers are pulling down Republican Lawn Signs,\u201d Kevin Smith, founder of the conservative group The Loud Majority posted on X.<\/p>\n<p>LiPetri himself responded, saying as quickly as his supporters place signs \u201cthey magically disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith identified the spot as on private property, but transportation officials said it was on property owned by the state on Jericho Turnpike.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe State Department of Transportation is highly confident that the sign in the photograph was removed from our property \u2014 the department is authorized to remove signs placed on its right of way,\u201d agency spokesperson Stephen Canzoneri told The Post.<\/p>\n<p>The state DOT routinely stores signs removed from its property for 30 days, during which the owner can reclaim them.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.62282092;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"   data-modal-image=\"41393509\" width=\"957\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mike-lipetri-republican-candidate-united-140372737.jpg\" alt=\"Mike LiPetri speaks at a podium during the Republican Midterm Convention.\" class=\"wp-image-41393509\"\/>Mike LiPetri, Republican candidate for United States Congress.  Ron Sachs \u2013 CNP for NY Post<\/p>\n<p>LiPetri, a former state assemblyman endorsed by President Trump, and Suozzi previously faced off in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Congress members serve two-year terms at annual salary of $174,000.<\/p>\n<p>Election Day is Nov. 3.<\/p>\n<p>Additional reporting by Shane Galvin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A state worker was caught on camera removing a lawn sign backing a Republican congressional candidate \u2014 but&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[858,5459,776,57,46937,774,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-377459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-congress","tag-department-of-transportation","tag-long-island","tag-metro","tag-midterm-elections-2026","tag-nassau-county","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}