They were painted over last year during the administration of then-Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, sparking a furor in heavily Italian American Nonantum. But now the iconic green, white and red lines that echo the Italian flag are returning to the Newton village’s Adams Street at the request of the new mayor.
“We are a welcoming city, and we welcome both the traditions of folks who’ve lived here for many generations and we welcome newcomers who may only have been here for a few weeks or months,” Mayor Marc Laredo told GBH News. “Part of valuing that diversity in this city is including respect for traditions that make ... Newton such a great place.
“One of them is right in the heart of Nonantum, which has traditionally for many years, for generations, been home of Italian immigrants,” he added. “Often Nonantum was the first stop for people of all different cultures and countries to come to the United States and come to Newton. And so it is a very important tradition in Nonantum.”
When the lines were painted over last year, Fuller said she was replacing the tricolored lines with a double yellow line due to a high rate of crashes on Adams Street and federal requirements that roads with a certain width and traffic level have double yellow lines in the middle.
But many Nonantum residents cried foul, with some accusing the then-mayor of anti-Italian bias. More than 2,000 signatures were added to a petition urging the city to reverse course.
Laredo’s solution to the problem was, as he puts it, “a little creative.” The city has painted new lines delineating parking spaces on Adams Street, technically reducing the width of the road — which means the street no longer falls under the federal requirement for a double yellow line in the middle. In the next month or so, Laredo said, city workers will repaint the green, white and red lines onto the road permanently.
Laredo’s move to reverse Fuller’s decision drew praise from Nonantum’s St. Mary of Carmen Society, which has put on an annual festival in the neighborhood for the past nine decades.
“For generations, the colors of the Italian flag painted along Adams Street have represented far more than paint on pavement,” the society said in a Facebook post. “They are a symbol of the people, families, and traditions that make the Nonantum community so special. They represent generations of families and the immigrant roots that helped build this neighborhood and the strong community that exists here today.”
For his part, Laredo said the response to the planned repainting has been overwhelmingly positive.
“You’re never going to please everyone, but I would say that the overwhelming response has been quite positive,” he said.
