While reading about traffic lights on Wikipedia this morning, Max came across this funny story about a traffic light in Syracuse, NY:
In the 1920s, after continued destruction of a standard traffic light, the City of Syracuse, New York in the United States gave up and installed a traffic light with green on the top. Residents of Irish descent had objected to the fact that “British” red was placed above “Irish” green.
This photo is from the Wikipedia entry, and was taken in 2005–which leads me to believe that it has never been changed back.
5 Comments
June 25, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Totally random that I wandered onto your blog, but I was born in Syracuse in 1970 and that traffic light has been that way for my entire life.
March 3, 2009 at 7:26 am
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July 12, 2009 at 10:30 am
Does anyone know where I can purchase a tee shirt of sweatshirt with the traffic light on it?
Thanks, Art
August 1, 2009 at 12:15 am
There is a bar/restaurant just up the street from this intersection. They have shirts and other things with the traffic light on it. That’s where I got mine!
http://www.colemansirishpub.com/pages/tipphill.html
Peace.
Jersey Chris
August 2, 2009 at 2:56 pm
The traffic light is still there, I go through it several times a day as it’s between my home and office. There’s a bar up the street called Stone Throwers referencing the people who threw the stones to break the original light.