most of modern ny 2 east of 1st street in troy was originally designated by the new york state legislature as route 42, an unsigned legislative route, on july 7, 1911. east of troy, however, route 42 was routed on pawling and pinewoods avenues. route 42 was extended west across the hudson river to schenectady in 1914 by way of what is now ny 2 and ny 7. when the first set of posted routes in new york were assigned in 1924, the portion of route 42 west of 1st street became part of ny 9. the rest of route 42 remained unnumbered until the 1930 renumbering of state highways in new york, when it was designated as ny 96. near troy, ny 96 bypassed pawling and pinewoods avenues to the north on brunswick road instead of following the path of route 42.