Police plan to charge Newton resident who allegedly repainted Italian flag street lines

Boston Globe

17-07-2025

Police will be seeking complaints against the person
in Newton District Court for violating state property damage laws, Henrickson said Thursday.
The alleged vandalism came after fierce backlash
to the mayor's unannounced decision to paint over the lines in late June,
citing goals to calm traffic on Adams Street and reduce crashes.
Residents immediately demanded the Italian colors, which have lined the street for 90 years,
be reinstated, and some threatened to take matters into their own hands, residents said.
Advertisement
'I'm happy he did it,' Jimmy Donovan, 64, a supporter of the colored lines, said
Thursday. 'Somebody's actually doing what everybody wants to do.'
Supporters of the lines have cited the neighborhood's deep ties to Italy and a desire to preserve its traditions.
The St. Mary of Carmen Festival, referred to as Festa, is an Italian cultural and religious celebration in its 90th year and runs from July 16 to July 20.
'It's like the veins of the festival, that's how deep this cuts,' Donovan said.
Advertisement
Fuller has defended her decision, but festival organizers said she ignored warnings that painting new yellow lines would be deeply unpopular, at least in some circles. A smaller, and less vocal, group of residents across a wider swath of Newton are fed up with the drama and 'hotheaded' Nonantum residents, according to one man who lived in the neighborhood for years.
The decision to remove the Italian-colored center line on Adams Street was made 'without meaningful dialogue or sensitivity to its cultural significance' and 'has left us disappointed and disheartened,' the St. Mary of Carmen Society said in a statement on Tuesday.
Chuck Proia, chairman of the festival, said organizers had nothing to do with the alleged vandalism. But he said it was to be expected following the mayor's unilateral decision.
'It's not surprising knowing the passion of the people here about the culture, our identity, the festival, and their feelings toward losing any part of that,' Proia said Thursday.
Proia said there has been
an increased police presence along Adams Street in recent days.
'It's unfortunate that the administration decided to take this tack. I think it's a waste of police resources,' said Proia, 57.
Ellen Ishkanian, the city's communications director, said Thursday that Fuller will allow residents to paint the tricolored Italian lines, but only parallel to the double
yellow lines, not in place of them.
'She can't compromise on the yellow lines, because that's a safety issue,' Ishkanian said.
Alison Leary, a city councilor, said that on Wednesday she asked that the Italian colors be painted on a bare patch on Adams Street at the intersection of Lincoln Road and Middle Street.
Advertisement
Ishkanian said the mayor's office can't approve such requests.
'While we cannot approve these types of markings on Adams Street, we welcome and support community-led efforts to paint the green, white, and red stripes on one side and adjacent to the double yellow center line. Or on crosswalks,' she said by email.
That left Leary feeling exasperated.
'I really feel there's nothing else we can do,' she said. 'This was the last effort to see if we can get the mayor to reconsider some of her decisions, but that didn't work.'
Fran Yerardi, a longtime Nonantum resident, said Fuller's stance makes it seem like she's 'not listening.'
'She says she wants to make this a win-win, but she really wants to make it a win-lose,' Yerardi said.
Although the episode has been painful, most
people
are refusing to let it overshadow the festival, referred to by locals as Festa, Proia said.
On Wednesday night in Nonantum's Pellegrini Park, Festa drew
one of its biggest opening night crowds in years, Proia said, with children enjoying the festivities and families basking in the summer evening.
Yeradri said that's proof that the street lines controversy has become something of a rallying cry.
'The mayor was trying to destroy the neighborhood,' Yerardi said. 'She's just bringing them all together.'
Claire Thornton can be reached at