City Council Is Pretty Upset about Ugly House Banner at Wonderland

Revere city councillors expressed dismay at Monday’s Council meeting about a large banner that is hanging from the top tier of the Wonderland MBTA Garage.

Councillors Joanne McKenna and John Powers co-sponsored a motion that requests “Mayor Brian Arrigo to send a letter to the MBTA to remove an enormously large ‘We Sell Ugly Houses’ banner that has been hanging for the last two months from the top of the Wonderland Garage.”

McKenna was the first to address the issue of the ‘Ugly’ banner.

“Just recently they put a 10-foot-by-12-foot sign hanging on top of their garage,” said McKenna. “They put it in after the ordinance was approved and I would like to have them take it down.”

 Powers urged the MBTA to address the issue immediately.

“I would like to take it one step further and have the MBTA come up here and explain the rationale of putting that sign up there,” said Powers. “Just the wording on the billboard is personally offensive to me.’’

Councillor-at-Large Steve Morabito also weighed in on the banner.

“My first thought was, ‘this

[banner]

looks sloppy,” said Morabito. “I’m not even sure the MBTA knows about this. It does not look professional. It doesn’t even look like it’s sturdy or a fixture on the building the way it hangs.”

Councillor Jessica Giannino said the ordinance banning billboards and advertising signs was first advanced by “our colleague,” the late Bob Haas, in response to the large number of billboards in the city. Giannino expressed hope that the banner would be removed promptly.

“I felt the same way (as Councillor Morabito) when I first saw the banner,” said Ward 4 Councillor Patrick Keefe, adding that he would like to see the Inspectional Services Department remove all advertising signs from telephone poles throughout the city.

“I was shocked when I saw it,” said Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novselsky. “It’s an ugly sign to say the least.”

Councillor-at-Large George Rotondo said the garage “is a state-owned property and there is nothing we can do about it.’’

Council President Arthur Guinasso agreed with the assertion that it is a state-owned entity but he added that the garage was being leased to “a private concern.”

“This is sort of an injustice to our community,” said Guinasso. The council leader said that maybe with the assistance of Revere’s state delegation (Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, Rep. RoseLee Vincent, and Sen. Joseph Boncore), the situation could be rectified. The City Council supported the motion.

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