Nonantum’s beloved Italian flag lines are returning to Adams Street after eight months since last summer’s controversial removal of the lines. 

“We are going to restore the lines,” Newton Mayor Marc Laredo said in an interview with The Heights. “We are going to make it clear that we value tradition.”

In June, former Mayor Ruthanne Fuller replaced the 80-year-old Italian flag lines with standard double yellow lines after a traffic analysis ranked Adams Street among the city’s top five crash areas. 

But neighborhood residents were skeptical of the decision, claiming that the timing of the removal appeared to be driven by a grudge rather than a genuine safety concern. Fuller removed the lines three weeks before the neighborhood’s 90th annual St. Mary of Carmen festival, which celebrates Italian heritage and uses the flag lines to mark a procession route. 

The former mayor and Nonantum residents had multiple contentious disagreements over zoning and taxes, specifically over the mayor’s proposals involving the Village Center Overlay District rezoning and Proposition 2 ½ override requests.   

“We feel like we have been heard where we weren’t heard last year,” said Chuck Proia, orator and festival chairman of the St. Mary of Carmen Society, referring to Laredo’s decision to re-establish the lines.

Laredo was able to reach a solution between the competing safety and tradition concerns by implementing parking spaces that narrowed the width of the street, omitting the need for standard double yellow lines. 

“We’ve always had parking on most of Adams Street on both sides, but weren’t really painting the parking spaces, so we sent our crew out, and they painted the parking spaces,” Laredo said. 

The move to restore the lines was one of Laredo’s first actions in office and was intended to affirm his commitment to celebrating Newton’s cultures.

“We value every single resident and every culture in our city—whether you’ve been here two weeks, two months, two years, or generations,” Laredo said. “There’s a very strong history of Italian immigrants coming into Nonantum for generations, and those traditions, that history is an exceptionally important part of our city.” 

Ward 1 Councilor-at-Large and City Council President John Oliver, who represents Nonantum, said he couldn’t speak to whether the former mayor was motivated by a grudge to remove the lines, but admitted that the timing of the move sent a message.

“It just didn’t compute,” Oliver said. “It’s like, why would you come after this community like this? But whether she’s got a grudge or not, I can’t speak to, but I can tell you one thing: that was seen as an affront. And quite frankly, anyone who spends five minutes in Nonantum knows that would be an affront.”

Proia felt that Fuller did not recognize the importance of preserving tradition and didn’t realize how even the slightest change could pose a risk to the longevity of the area’s cultural identity. 

“There always seem to be some things being chipped away here and there,” Proia said. “And I learned a long time ago from the people that came before us in Nonantum, that as things get chipped away, you never get those back.”

Laredo did not want to comment on the past handling of the Italian flag lines, but said that he did not support the decision to remove them. 

“I am not going to go into what happened in the past,” Laredo said. “I did not agree with the decision at the time, I stated that, and the decision was made.”

Fuller did not respond to an email request for comment. 

When Laredo was running for mayor, he pledged to restore the Italian flag lines.

“As I was running for office, I made it quite clear that I wanted to restore the lines of Adams Street,” Laredo said. “I asked my team to come up with creative solutions to get them restored, and we are implementing them.”

Oliver said that this approach to problem-solving marks a turning point in Newton’s mayorship. 

“This is a sign of positive things to come, and so far, you know, Mayor Laredo has proven that he’s taking a significantly different track,” Oliver said. “His approach is different. And for me personally, I prefer the approach I’ve seen over the past two and a half months.”

The society is looking forward to a festival that is purely focused on community, rather than controversy, said Proia. 

“I think it’s a new day, new time, and I think we’re all looking forward to celebrating,” Proia said. “We feel very happy, very proud.” 

This decision coincides with Laredo’s commitment to making Newton a truly Welcoming City. 

“We think it’s a great win,” Laredo said. “All are welcome here.”