Newton residents react to ‘Line Gate' during Italian American festival

Boston Globe

6 days ago

Tim Strayer, who has lived in Newton for 28 years, said that the move was 'tone deaf.'
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'There may be legitimate reasons to paint it yellow, but the timing and the engagement with the community was very poor,' Strayer said after a 10 a.m. Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians Church.
Around 2:30 a.m. on July 16, on the first day of Festa, police Lieutenant Amanda Henrickson
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Although some residents found the removal of the Italian flag stripes disrespectful, many want to move past it and focus on the festival. Chuck Proia, 57,
who has been chairperson of the festival for the last 20 years, said that he thinks of the event as 'Christmas in July.'
'I was afraid for a long time that the line controversy was going to overshadow this event,' Proia said.
Around 12:30 p.m., people drank beer, ate pizza, and wore matching white shirts emblazoned with 'The Lake,' a nickname for Nonantum, even though there is no lake here. Some volunteers were preparing for the 2 p.m. procession down Adams Street, where the statue of the Madonna del Carmine from Our Lady Help of Christians was carried through the neighborhood.
During the procession, the North End Marching Band, dressed in red shirts, played snare drums. Spectators pinned dollar bills to the statue, which will benefit the St. Mary of Carmen Society.
Michael Panella, 72, who grew up in Newton but now lives in Needham, said he was upset when he found out that city officials had painted over the stripes on Adams Street.
'It was disgraceful … those Italian colors have been on the street for decades,' Panella said.
Panella's parents immigrated from Avellino, a town near Naples in Italy. He said his father encouraged him to speak English and he regrets that he is not fluent in Italian. Panella said that the festival and the Italian character of Nonantum were an important part of retaining his parents' culture.
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Michael Panza, 56, has lived on Adams Street for 20 years in a house with a driveway that's painted red, white, and green. He was welcoming neighbors to his backyard to share food before the procession. Panza said that he and his neighbors were kept up until 3 a.m. on June 27 when city officials repainted the street.
'They were out here from 10:30 at night to 3:30 in the morning with backpack blowers as loud as can be,' Panza said.
He said he was skeptical about the mayor's claim that double yellow lines were needed to make the street safer.
Michaela Carrieri, 28, of Brookline, came to Adams Street for the procession with her cousin, a first-time visitor to the United States from Abruzzo, Italy. Carrieri's father grew up in Nonantum, and she would attend the festival every year as a child.
'My cousin's never been a part of this festival, and this is something that I've done my whole life,' Carrieri said. 'I just wanted to show him what we do in America.'
She said she found it interesting that Adams Street was repainted, pointing out that multiple streets in Nonantum, not just Adams, have a red, white, and green stripe in the middle.
'It's been here for decades,' Carrieri said. 'I'm not too immersed into what is occurring, but I do find it interesting.'
Carmen Pancerella, who has lived in Newton for 28 years, said she was sad when she saw that the lines had been painted over, especially since people generally repaint the red, white, and green stripes right before Festa so the street is 'bright and vibrant.'
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Pancerella, whose grandparents immigrated from Calabria, Italy, said that it was important to maintain the stripes on Adams Street and the annual celebration of the festival.
'I like seeing tradition because it's so easy for it to go away in today's world,' Pancerella said.
Angela Mathew can be reached at