A New York City story...
When they redesigned the 'don't walk' signals the early models didn't include the grid cover. Until someone in Brooklyn customized the orange hand. They covered some of the fingers with (black) electrical tape so when the light came on the sign was giving you the finger. Ah, New York!
Also from the New York Post
Interesting you posted the pic of that sign; I remember when Third Worlders started filling the NYC metro area (including my neighborhood a dozen miles west in NJ) and they replaced our “Walk”/”Don’t Walk” signs with those “no habla ingles” ones (pictures only) for “analfabetos” (illiterates).
I have no sympathy for this guy regardless of his origin because our streets are jammed with pedestrians who inconvenience us drivers that pay their bills by driving to work every day. The more enlightened ones use their strollers to stop traffic and push their way through. NYC’s solution is to basically shunt you through a cattle chute which opens up only at corners.