Upside-Down Traffic Light

At the corner of Tompkins Street and Milton Avenue in the Tipperary Hill neighbourhood, a traffic signal runs with the colours reversed: green on top, red on the bottom. This is not a malfunction. It is the result of a dispute between the local Irish-American community and the city of Syracuse that dates to the 1920s and has never been resolved.

The neighbourhood is proud of its Irish heritage and the light has become a landmark in its own right. A small green limestone rock sits nearby, commemorating the "Stone Throwers" who defended the position of the Irish green. The surrounding Tipperary Hill neighbourhood, with its Irish pubs and community organisations, is a pleasant area to walk in.

things to do sight
A story
When the traffic light was installed on Tompkins Street in Tipperary Hill in the 1920s, the Irish-American residents objected violently — literally — to having the British red above the Irish green. They smashed the light repeatedly until the city gave up and reversed the signal. It has remained reversed ever since, making Syracuse the only city in the United States with a traffic light where green is on top.

Other places in Things to Do