Political and other controversial ads could be banned soon from New York City’s buses, trains and stations, drawing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority into a debate over constitutional protections for what some deem to be hateful speech.
The authority’s commissioners voted 7-2 to advance a ban on political ads in buses, trains and stations, which means the MTA board could vote on the proposal Wednesday.
New York City transit agency lawyers are telling a judge who ordered the authority to display a controversial bus ad that it will vote on a plan to ban all political advertisements.
The MTA's letter was sent to Judge John Koeltl last Friday. The judge had ordered the MTA to accept a pro-Israel advocacy group's political advertisement containing the phrase "Hamas Killing Jews" because it is protected speech.
MTA lawyer Peter Sistrom says the agency has long considered revising its advertising policy. He says the planned vote was not a hasty reaction to Koeltl's ruling.
The American Freedom Defense Initiative had sued so the ad could be displayed.
Its lawyer David Yerushalmi says the ban is "poorly conceived." He says the MTA cannot wish away a constitutional violation.
UPDATE
On Apr. 29, 2015, The nation's largest mass transit system has voted to ban all political advertising on its subways and buses. The resolution passed by a vote of 9-2 at the MTA's board meeting after the finance committee approved it earlier in the week. The cash-strapped agency says such advertising only accounts for less than $1 million of its annual advertising revenue of $138 million.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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