NY 96 proceeds northwest through a lightly populated section of Seneca County and the town of Covert to the village of Interlaken, home to the southern terminus of NY 96A, a more westerly alternate route of NY 96 between Interlaken and Geneva. Outside of the village, NY 96 continues on a northwesterly path for another to the Ovid–Romulus town line, where it turns due west for to access the village of Ovid. The route mostly bypasses the village, with NY 96A and NY 414 serving as its Main Street instead. The three routes meet at a junction on the northern fringe of the community, at which point NY 96A leaves NY 414 and turns west to follow the town line toward Seneca Lake while NY 96 joins NY 414 and heads north into the town of Romulus.