SYRACUSE N.Y. (NCC News) – The world’s only upside-down traffic light is located at Milton Avenue and Tompkins Street atop Tipperary Hill on the West Side of Syracuse. A hotbed for Irish immigrants in the early twentieth century, the stoplight reflects the hatred the Irish had for the British. The Irish children didn’t like to see England red atop their Ireland green, and would repeatedly break the light until it was flipped upside-down.
“Their children would throw stones at the light, and they kept breaking all the lenses on the traffic lights. There weren’t that many roads, they weren’t in great condition, and they were lucky to have a traffic light. The city would come and replace the glass and then the kids would come and do it again,” said J.P. Carlysle, owner of Nibsy’s Pub.
The legend of the stoplight is well-known throughout the Syracuse community, passed down from generation to generation.
“I’m 100% Irish so I grew up in it. My family lives on [Tipperary] Hill. I think’s it’s just like families keep the tradition going, and I don’t see it ending anytime soon,” Mallory Meagher, waitress at Shaughnessy’s Irish Pub said.
The Syracuse Irish community gathers under the stoplight every year on the week of St. Patrick’s Day to remember those who have passed away in the last year. A celebration around the city ensues on March 17.