the history of the upside down traffic light at Tipperary Hill in Syracuse, New York, at the corner of Milton Avenue and Tompkins Street. The only traffic light with green on top, red on the bottom... Why aren't they all this way? We kicked the English the hell out of this country!

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tompkins+St+%26+Milton+Ave,+Syracuse,+NY+13204/@43.0466274,-76.1855668,3a,75y,168.86h,91.76t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMbcXW-bw_FRxFv3sQMjPTQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DMbcXW-bw_FRxFv3sQMjPTQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.gws-prod.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D360%26h%3D120%26yaw%3D152.74356%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x89d9f15df4b80695:0xd440bfa604845957!8m2!3d43.0465598!4d-76.1855708

Tipperary Hill, also known as Tipp Hill, is a district in the city of Syracuse, New York, largely settled by immigrants from Ireland, especially from County Tipperary. It makes up half of Syracuse's Far Westside neighborhood.

In the 1820s, when the Erie Canal was built from Albany to Buffalo, the Irish were the chief laborers. Located in the middle of the route, Syracuse was considered the hub of the system. After the canal was finished, many Irish people settled west of Syracuse on a hill overlooking the canal. This area became known as Tipperary Hill.

The story goes that in 1925, exactly 80 years ago, the city put up a new traffic signal with the green light on top, a salute to the Irish.

 John "Huckle" Ryan, then alderman of the Tipperary Hill section, requested that the traffic signal be hung with the green above the red in deference to the Irish residents. This was done, but soon the State of New York stepped in (state law dictates that traffic signals must follow the same sequence to avoid confusing the color-blind), and city officials reversed the colors.

Irish youth were still inflamed from the political tension from the 1921 Irish War of Independence with Britain. They often threw stones to break the "British" red top light above the "Irish" green, to prevent “red over green.” To them, red on top represented Britain having greater importance than Ireland.

Eventually, city leaders wore down. Tipperary Hill received the only traffic light in the nation where the green shines over red.

Bobby Kennedy drew a big crowd when he shook hands at the intersection in 1966.

Dinty Gilmartin, a one-legged Irish immigrant ran a grocery store at that Tipperary Hill intersection, and the stone throwers used to hang around his store. The Post-Standard in 1960 referred to Dinty Gilmartin, then 90, - - as the "guardian of the famous green-over-red traffic signal."

To Pat Ahern, the longtime Syracuse Hibernian, the light represents the Irish spirit of defiance - against the British, against the devastation of the great famine, against the struggles of adjusting to life in a new land.

On March 15, 2005, Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern visited Tipperary Hill, where he had his photo taken by the Green-on-Top traffic light

Congressman Jim Walsh (left) explains the legend of the traffic light at the corner of Milton Avenue and Tompkins Street, just as the statue depicts two parents doing with their children, to Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.

During parts of his 10 terms in Congress, Walsh chaired the Friends of Ireland caucus and helped broker the Northern Ireland peace process.

In recent years, longtime neighborhood residents of Irish ancestry and local business owners gathered resources and encouraged the city to demolish an old run-down commercial building that was located on the northeast corner of the intersection where the "Green over Red" traffic light incident had occurred.

In 1997 the neighborhood group convinced the city to build a small park called the Tipperary Hill Memorial Park (above left side of the photo)  and erect a statue which is known as the Tipperary Hill Heritage Memorial on the same corner.

 The memorial is dedicated to those who, in the opinion of local residents, were brave sons of Ireland who stood up to City Hall to win the battle of the "Green over Red" traffic light. The statue was created by sculptor Dexter Benedict.

https://alchetron.com/Tipperary-Hill
http://www.livablecny.com/tipperary-hill-traffic-light/
https://www.syracuse.com/kirst/2005/03/rocks_against_red_lift_green_o.html
https://www.syracuse.com/news/2014/12/former_rep_james_walsh_named_one_of_worlds_top_100_irish_business_leaders.html
https://gizmodo.com/the-story-behind-syracuses-upside-down-traffic-light-1545301615