These were coming from a nondescript hole in the mossy ground, with no mound like the neighboring neoniger had, and they looked bigger and darker than surrounding neoniger
Observation is for the ant
Harpagoxenus, Temnothorax, and Leptothorax wilsoni ruled out by 6 teeth on mandible (visible in microscope, but my microscope can't steady specimens for imaging in face view)
Formicoxenus ruled out by lack of eye hairs
Leptothorax sphagnicola ruled out by lack of erect hairs on scape and tibia (images 5 and 6)
Leptothorax muscorum group ruled out by notched clypeus (again can't image face view in microscope)
Note that this is at 1500ft elevation in the southern adirondacks, the flora here is closer to what you find at the summit of Gore Mountain ski area than what you would find anywhere else in Saratoga County, and other northern ants are also present, this Formica aserva obs: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/160980865 was only 38 m away from where I found the Leptothorax
EDIT: Corrected 38 ft to 38 m
can't tell if there are some erect hairs in the scape, or if those were appressed hairs that I roughed up handling the ant
Using this key, https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Key_to_Myrmica_of_North_America taking the path 1-2*-3-4-15-17-18*-19-22-23-fracticornis*
*means I determined this based on range rather than characteristics