Signboard of Newly Named Black Boy Lane Sign in Tottenham vandalised just hours after installation

Just hours after Black Boy Lane in Tottenham was renamed, the new signboard was vandalised. The Black Boy Lane was renamed to La Rose Lane because it had racial connotations. As per reports, somebody used black spray paint to cover the new road sign.

Only some people liked the name change while others said it was a “futile gesture” and a “performative display of virtue.”

Save our Statues, a group that works to protect statues, says that the new sign cost the council about £186,000. It didn’t say anything about whether or not this number was right.

Leader of Haringey Council Peray Ahmet tweeted a picture of the vandalised road sign and said she was “really sad and disappointed to have been sent this today.”

“Yesterday, we had a great launch where we honoured the life and work of John La Rose.

“What good could this do besides be stupid vandalism?”

The council started a discussion about changing the name after the events that happened after George Floyd died in 2020.

It said that many residents were worried about the word’s racial connotations and “the effect its continued use has on black people in Haringey.” It also said that “a significant number of residents of the street” were against the idea.

Ms. Ahmet said, “We’re honouring someone who did a lot for our borough. Black Boy Lane seems like an old name for a street in this day and age.”