Pamela Geller Beats New York M.T.A. on Mega Mosque Advertisement

At New York Times, "With Anti-Mosque Ad, M.T.A. Is Reminded of Its Limited Powers":

In 1904, New Yorkers nearly rioted when they learned that advertisements would be plastered on the tiled walls of the city’s gleaming new subway system. “Cheap and nasty,” one official scoffed.

Today, advertisements on buses and trains are so ubiquitous that the average straphanger is quite likely to forget that they are there at all: the injury lawyers and Dr. Zizmors are only a blurry backdrop to the daily voyage.

Until, that is, this week, when a debate over a provocative advertisement reinserted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority into a fierce public debate over what should be allowed in the transit system — and to what extent the authority has the right to decide that at all.

At issue was an advertisement submitted by a group opposed to the construction of a mosque and Islamic center near ground zero. The advertisement includes a photograph of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, one tower aflame, the other moments away from being struck by an airplane. A headline asks, “Why There?” And an arrow points to a rendering of the proposed mosque.

The authority’s advertising firm initially rejected the advertisement as unsuitable, repeatedly requesting changes to the photograph of the twin towers, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week by the advertisement’s sponsor, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, and its leader, the prominent right-wing blogger Pamela Geller, who argued that her right to free speech had been infringed.

On Monday, the authority relented, saying it would allow the advertisement to run in its original form. It is expected to appear next week on more than 20 city buses.

More at the link.

Free speech-basher CAIR is obviously not pleased.

See also, "MTA Caves: Ground Zero Bus Campaign Will Run."