Northampton to use $20,000 in COVID relief funds on Ninja Turtles manhole covers

NORTHAMPTON -- The city of Northampton loves its turtle power.

So much in fact, the western Massachusetts city is using $20,000 in COVID relief money to create a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles art tribute.

The pandemic relief funds will be used to make four custom-designed manhole covers that will be displayed on Main Street. 

The creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, lived in Northampton when they started their comic book featuring the sewer-dwelling, martial-arts reptiles in the 1980s.

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance disagreed with how the money is being allocated, tweeting, "Never let them tell you we need to raise taxes."