MTA bans political ads in transit system

Political and religious ads were banned entirely from the transit sy🧸stem following a fierce debate on Wednesday, about a week after a federal judge ordered the MTA to allow anti-Muslim posters.

The new policy, which is effective immediately, was♚ passed by the MTA board in a 9-2 voꦰte.

“Hateful speech🦩 is not harmless speech. Only a fool or rogue would argue otherwise,” said Charles Moerdler, an MTA board member and Holocaust survivor who voted for the new policy.

“‘Mein Kampf’ was a precursor to genocide. Hateful speech fuels the fire of 🅷death and destruction.”

Only paid commercial advertising, public-service announcements and government messages will be allow🧸ed. There are currently no political ads up in the subway system.

Manhattan federal Judge John Koeltl ruled on April 21 that the MTA had to run a bus ad from the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which had sued♑ arguing freedom of speech.

The ad🥂 featured a Muslim man with his face covered and the Hamas quote: “K🐻illing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah.” Below that it said, “That’s His Jihad. What’s yours?”

Pamela Geller, who heads the AFDI, 𒐪was seething at the proposed new policy. “You cannot shut this down,” she said during the🐼 meeting. “You call my ads hateful. These are actual quotes from high-profile Muslims. We need to have this conversation.”

The MTA said it take꧒s in less than $1 million a year from political ads, while its t💎otal ad revenue was $140 million in 2014.

Some MTA officials were against the new policy. “I think we’ve given them more play than they would have gotten if we just ran the💛m,” said Ira Greenberg. “What makes us civilized is that we do not react to these uncivilized ads.”

Andrew Albert, who represents the subway and bus rider✃s on the board, also o♌pposed the new policy.

“I think it says that New Yorkers are not as smart as people in other cities and other transit systems — that we can’t determine the difference between hate speech and political sp🍒eech and hemorrhoid-related ads,” said Albert, who chairs the Transit Riders Council.

“I think we allꦕ know what the ads are and can interpret them well. New Yorkers are pretty sharp in that regard.”

Board member Allen Cap🌊pelli, who voted no, s🐓aid the subway has been an open public forum for a century.

“🅠It is backward thinking, the kind of thinking that has led us over the years to lose case after case in this regard,” he said.