All of the crossing signal buttons on this stretch of road have been taped over, block after block, north/south and east/west. In a breeze, this looks a bit like a very (OK, very) low-key Christo installation, or like someone speedily took down all the photocopied posters after their lost puppy was found. The tape suggests the buttons are due either for an upgrade, or for eradication. My money is on eradication. (Pedestrians shouldn’t have to wait for the little figure of a walking person to appear to remind drivers to pause before making a turn.) If these buttons are, indeed, disappearing from a major city, then they’re likely disappearing elsewhere, too, which makes me wonder: if the buttons are going away, then how about the crossing signal sounds? You know, like the fake birds, for example, that tell walkers they’re free to go? Presumably, the fake birds will remain, because they serve a purpose whether or not a button needs to be pushed. We’ll no longer have control, as pedestrians, as to whether the birds sing. The birds will sing every time the lights change, which is how it should be.