City buses will soon carry a provocative advertisement that opposes the construction of a mosque near ground zero and depicts a plane flying toward a flaming World Trade Center, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Monday.

The group behind the advertisement had sued the authority last week, alleging that the advertisement had initially been rejected as inappropriate.

The advertisement juxtaposes a photograph of the World Trade Center, seen in the instant before the second tower was hit, with a rendering of the controversial mosque and Islamic center planned for Lower Manhattan. In bold capital letters, the ad asks, “Why There?”

In the suit, the ad’s sponsor, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which is run by Pamela Geller, a prominent right-wing blogger, claimed that the firm that handles advertising for the transit agency had infringed on its right to free speech by repeatedly requesting changes to the ad, like removing the image of the plane.

In a short statement issued on Monday, a spokesman for the authority, Kevin Ortiz, said the advertisement as originally submitted had been deemed acceptable under the agency’s “advertising guidelines and governing legal standards.”

The authority, which must approve advertising in the transit system, said it had not made a final decision on the advertisement before the lawsuit was filed.

John H. Banks III, a mayoral appointee to the authority’s board, said he supported the decision, despite his personal objection to the advertisement. “The wonderful thing about our country is that people have a right to express themselves, as long as it doesn’t endanger anyone’s life,” Mr. Banks said. “I support it, even though I disagree with it vehemently.”

The planned mosque, which received final city approval last week, has been at the center of a fierce national debate about religious freedom and the legacy of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Asked if she was concerned that the image of the flaming twin towers might upset some New Yorkers, Ms. Geller, in a brief interview on Monday, replied: “Not at all. It’s part of American history.”

(Source: NY Times)