Some Neighborhood Signs Now Feature Mayor Marty Walsh’s Name

Photo By Steve Annear

Former Mayor Tom Menino made his mark on Boston in more ways than one.

And when it came to signage, he made his mark 1,182 times.

But now, with a new mayor in place, the number of signs bearing the latter elected leader’s moniker is slowly dwindling.

While Menino’s legacy will surely last forever—after all, Hizzoner was in charge for two decades—his namesake on some city property won’t.

Recently, Mayor Marty Walsh’s administration finally started swapping out Menino’s name from both trash receptacles and neighborhood welcome signs in parts of Boston.

“We’re making our way through them slowly,” a city spokesperson confirmed via email.

Two signs that looked as though they were recently rebranded, displaying Walsh’s name in place of Menino’s, were in South Boston and the Fort Point neighborhood, near the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Select “Big Belly” trash receptacles along Massachusetts Avenue, near Newbury Street, also now display Walsh’s name.

Pinpointing the exact cost and timeline of replacing neighborhood signs was not immediately available. And because signage is put up by various departments, and officials neither keep a tally, nor have a centralized database of where signs with Menino’s name are located, there’s no telling when the official transition into “Walsh’s Boston” will be complete.

But from the sounds of it, the mayor’s administration is in no hurry, either.

In late July, when Boston.com asked about the lingering Menino reminders, a spokesperson told a reporter that Walsh wanted to put his focus—and funds—into other, more pressing, matters.

“We’re trying to be wise about the way we’re using city resources to update the signs,” said a spokesperson, citing the importance of funneling resources toward schools and summer jobs programs instead.