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New York Transit Authority Sued Over Ads Opposing Mosque Near Trade Center
A group opposed to the building of a mosque at the site of the World Trade Center sued the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York saying the agency forced it to make too many changes on bus advertisements it wants to run.
“If plaintiffs did not edit, dilute and change their message per defendants’ demands, then the advertisement would not be allowed to run,” according to the complaint filed by the American Freedom Defense Initiative in federal court in New York today.
Plans to build an Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center site moved forward after New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted Aug. 3 to allow the demolition of a building that would be replaced by the mosque.
The bus ad originally included a picture of the Twin Towers in flames with a plane headed toward them and a tower with a crescent moon and star, symbols of Islam, according to the complaint. Arrows connect text reading “WTC Jihad Attack” and “WTC Mega Mosque.”
“No decision has been made on this ad,” Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for the MTA, said in an e-mailed statement. “Our advertising contractor just showed the proposed ad to us this afternoon.”
On July 28, the group was told the ad couldn’t run because of the plane, the group said. After it removed the plane it was told the connection between the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the mosque were objectionable, according to the complaint.
Yesterday, the Freedom Defense Initiative was told the flames had to be removed. It did that and added back the plane, which it removed again after it was told to do so. After that, it sued, according to the complaint. It seeks a declaration that the restrictions violate its free-speech rights and money damages.
The case is American Freedom Defense Initiative v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 10-cv-5947, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
To contact the reporter on this story: Thom Weidlich in Brooklyn, New York, federal court at tweidlich@bloomberg.net.
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