The line came to encapsulate the borough's urban blight of the time.

WSJ: Celebs join project for giant NYC skating center

"It's time to declare war on this blight, " says Alan Bradley, London's "street environment" czar.

FORBES: Gobstoppers

The slight let-up in potholes this time last year may have been just a blip in the annual pothole blight that seems to beset us each spring.

BBC: 'Millions of cars' damaged by potholes