NY 233 begins at an intersection with NY 12B southwest of the village of Clinton in the town of Kirkland. It heads north as Harding Road and passes the Harding Farm historic site before intersecting NY 412 (College Hill Road) directly west of Clinton. NY 412 heads east from here to serve Clinton while College Hill Road heads west to serve Hamilton College. North of the NY 412 junction, NY 233 is named Bristol Road as it passes through the hamlet of Kirkland (where it meets NY 5) and enters the town of Westmoreland.
In the hamlet of Westmoreland, NY 233 meets the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) at its exit 32. NY 233 does not directly connect to the exit ramps, making the connection instead by way of Cider Road. North of the interchange, the route becomes Rome–Westmoreland Road. Just before entering the large city of Rome, NY 233 cuts through the extreme northwestern corner of the town of Whitestown. Here, the route intersects County Route 840 (Sutliff Road), the county-maintained extension of NY 840. NY 233 continues into Rome to the hamlet of Stanwix and intersects NY 69 in the center of the community near where the Utica–Rome Expressway (NY 49 and NY 365) passes by Stanwix, with the connection between NY 233 and the eastbound direction of the expressway made via NY 69 eastbound. NY 69 joins NY 233 here, and both routes continue to the westbound on-ramps for the expressway. At this point, NY 69 turns west to join the expressway, while NY 233 ends.
History
The alignment of NY 233 has remained virtually unchanged since the route was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. It initially ended at a junction with NY 5S (now NY 69) in Rome (at Stanwix).[2] The section of the Utica–Rome Expressway near Stanwix was constructed in the late 1970s,[3][4] at which time NY 233 was extended a short distance along NY 69 to connect to an interchange with the expressway.[citation needed]