A reason to take down the Citgo sign that has nothing to do with Hugo Chavez

By adamg on Sat, 09/23/2006 - 10:11pm

World Leader, whose city councilor is Jerry McDermott, says enough about Hugo Chavez already: Take down the Citgo sign because it's embarrassing that a major Boston landmark is an ad:

... As the video says, London has its Big Ben, Paris has its Eiffel Tower, and Boston has its...Citgo sign?

Boston? The "Athens of America"? The "Hub of the Universe"? And its famous landmark is a neon Citgo sign? ... The Citgo sign is stupid. It's an embarrassment. It's pathetic. I've wondered why it's been there for years except that it represents the low stature of Boston and its inability to attract or build some sort of interesting landmark. ...

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Comments

Jerry McDermott's Agenda

By KenmoreSquareResident on Sat, 09/23/2006 - 10:50pm.

Sounds like young Mr. McDermott is willing to say anything to keep up his appearances on the nightly cable shows.

Kenmore Square used to have other signs

By Ron Newman on Sun, 09/24/2006 - 12:57am.

Kenmore was never Times Square, but it did once have at least one other interesting commercial sign. Above the Hotel Buckminster was a flashing neon White Fuel sign, complete with animated oil well. The sign came down some time in the late 1970s or early 80s. If anyone knows of a night-time photo, I'd love to see it.

And across the river on Memorial Drive, Cambridge considers its Shell sign to be a major landmark.

(I'd post this comment on the original blog, but I'm much too old to join MySpace.)

Edit: Here's some history of Kenmore Square, including a daytime photo of the White Fuel sign.

Did McDermott say something about the Eiffel Tower?

By Spatch on Sun, 09/24/2006 - 1:48pm.

Used to have C-I-T-R-O-E-N in humongous neon letters down its sides. Yep, it was used to advertise French automobiles during part of the 20th century.

Tear it down! IT'S ALL ADVERTISING!

McDermott's a tool. T-O-O-L. I'll write that on a sign, any day.

I just saw the video

By John K on Mon, 09/25/2006 - 11:15pm.

I just watched the video of Jerry McDermott on Neil Cavuto's show (did the Cavuto show come to Boston .... just FOR THIS STORY????), and this guy McDermott is a complete moron!

Who voted for this guy????

How many years does a councilor have in office? He was elected in 2002 ... when can we boot him out?

I love the ending - Neil Cavuto says, "how come you aren't getting a lot of support from other legislators?"

McDermott, "everyone here hates Bush, and anything that is against Bush, they like."

Yep, we're all just crazy lunatic liberals, here.

Either that, or you're just a moron.

Huh...

By Alaiyo on Mon, 10/02/2006 - 11:48am.

Are there more important things to be embarrassed about, like the fact that more and more people who were born here and/or made their lives here can't afford to stay or that neverending joke known as the T.

"There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not here any more."
-The Ghost of Christmas Present

Are you kidding me?

By Gagalooie on Fri, 10/13/2006 - 1:14pm.

I've never even heard of any one even hinting that the Citgo sign was an embarrassment until reading that previous comment.

I view it as a landmark. I love seeing it. I've lived in Boston all my life, and I love it.