A garbage truck recently damaged Little Italy’s iconic neighborhood sign on India Street, sending its neon “GO” letters crashing onto the asphalt.
The incident occurred during an early morning dumpster pickup in January, when a Waste Management truck raised its automatic arm and struck the sign, tearing metal from the letters on the north side of the frame that spell out “San Diego.”
\Waste Management’s insurance company, Gallagher Bassett, initially contacted the city on Jan. 29, assuming the sign was government property. The landmark, however, belongs to the Little Italy Association, which has represented residents and businesses since 1996.
City officials forwarded the message, but nearby businesses had already alerted the association about the damage. The first call came from Nonna, the Italian restaurant run by the Busalacchi family.
The association filed its insurance claim on Feb. 9 and contracted Signtech, a national sign company with an office in City Heights, to assess the damage. The company conducted an initial inspection and has not yet offered a total estimate, but just this start down the road to repair has cost the association $7,000.
Christopher Gomez, the association’s chief executive administrator, said the timeline for processing the claim and completing repairs remains unclear.
“Once we get the trucks out there and know what we’re working with, it could be anywhere from two to three weeks,” Gomez said. “Getting it started is an extensive process. The incident happened in January; the issue is weaving together all these people.”
Gomez said Waste Management has “passed the buck” to Gallagher Bassett, which is handling the situation.
A Waste Management team lead said the company would not comment on the matter.
“I appreciate the fact they stepped forward,” Gomez said. “When we were made aware of the damage from local businesses, we had no idea what happened.”
Nearly 12 weeks after the incident, many nearby residents and workers said they had not noticed the damage. Some assumed a large vehicle clipped the sign, as delivery and emergency vehicles frequently travel north on the one-way street.
The damage went largely unnoticed because of its placement. Only the north side of the sign was affected, leaving the south side and underside unscathed. Gomez said the unusual pattern made it difficult to determine how the damage occurred.
“It’s so unique, we couldn’t figure it out. If you’re driving a big truck that ends up clipping the sign, it would have ruined all of the sides. They were probably parked, then lifted up a trash bin and pulled the north side of the sign off,” Gomez said.
The association is considering future renovations to improve the sign, which was installed in 2000.
“Our focus is to get the sign back to where it was before,” Gomez said. “We’ll be doing some renovations ahead of its 30th (anniversary) celebration. At this point, it’s business as usual in Little Italy.”
