MTA to put disclaimer on viewpoint ads

The MTA Thursday acted to distance itself from controversial advertisements in its stations and on trains and buses.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted unanimously to require so-called "viewpoint" advertisements to include a disclaimer making it clear that a display on agency property "does not imply MTA's endorsement of any views expressed."

The decision represents the first change to MTA advertising standards in 15 years.

It followed a recent federal court decision that ruled the agency's policy to block ads it found "demeaning," including those targeting specific races and religions, was unconstitutional. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by a pro-Israel advocacy group that bought ads throughout the MTA system that referred to Muslims as "savages."

Protesters, holding signs demanding that the MTA "take the racists ads down," spoke out at Thursday's meeting against the ads and the MTA's decision to post them.

"Who's really savage here?" Sara Flounders asked the board. "I think it's the ones who are putting out the messages that are racist."

Pamela Geller, who heads American Freedom Defense Initiative, the sponsor of the anti-Muslim ad campaign, tried to defend herself at the meeting, but protesters kept shouting. MTA chairman Joseph Lhota had several of them removed from the building. Police escorted Geller out of the building using a service elevator.

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In a lengthy private meeting, the board considered several options, including banning all noncommercial ads, Lhota said. But he said the board members are all "firm believers in the First Amendment."

"You deal with a free-speech issue with more free speech," said Lhota, who acknowledged that he expected viewpoint advertising to increase as their sponsors seek publicity. "That's what really worries me."