Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2010SYR14
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Stone Throwers Were Right
poster information
Description
Stone throwers were right—
What would Tipp Hill be without
that green—on—top light?
When traffic lights were first installed on Tipperary Hill, the proud Irish immigrant lads were offended to see the red of Britain above the green of Ireland and threw stones to break the lights. City officials soon tired of replacing the lights, only to have the boys break them again. So they installed the now-famous green-on-top traffic light.
I have heard it is the only one in the United State configured this way so I thought it was a part of our heritage that should be shared through the Poster Project, much the way the Stone Throwers Monument erected at the site shares the history with visitors.
I love to write haiku. Like meditation, it forces you to focus on the objective and reduce it to its simplest elements.
I am of Irish descent, so I love the Tipp Hill area. I love the Stone Throwers and Coleman's and the history behind the area. It's one of my favorite parts of Syracuse.
I also love the story behind the light. The story goes that when the Irish immigrants moved to the area they disliked the fact that the green was on the bottom. They threw stones at the red light until it broke. Every time the light was replaced, it would end up broken again. Finally the light was permanently flipped so that the green is on top. It's the only upside down street light in the country. Eirinn go brach.