Italian community reacts after crews removed green, white, and red center lines in Newton

For a society whose identity is tied to its Italian roots several Newton residents are unhappy with a change they say wasn t needed city crews worked overnight to remove the green white and red center lines along Adams Street The colors were meant to recognize the deep Italian roots in Nonatum one of Newton s villages That s no good what they did Very disgusting disclosed one resident Another revealed To me it makes no sense How much money did they spend on doing this The change comes just weeks before the area s annual Italian-American Festival This is our heritage This is our religion This is our custom It s been wiped out mentioned Brian Riffe As a matter of fact I was part of the original crew in that laid these first lines I think we should have at least been recounted Mayor RutheAnne Fuller says the city is just following state law and noted Adams Street is a main road Regulations require yellow dividing lines She also says the traditional green white and red lines will be painted next to the yellow lines sometimes soon But festival organizers say this isn t a key they want the lines back the way they were before