Petition Calls On MTA To Ban Alcohol Ads
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There's a push to get rid of alcohol ads on city subways and buses.
A coalition of health advocates, clergy and City Councilman Daniel Dromm said the ads target communities of color and children. They pointed to a recent study that found twice as many ads on trains headed to uptown stations than downtown trains.
The group Building Alcohol Ad-Free Transit has started an online petition to ban the ads.
Reaction to the proposal was mixed at the Columbus Circle station.
Stephanie Lamb of Manhattan says she sees ads that are much worse.
"There are ads that sexualize women and all these other things," Lamb said. "If the advertisement isn't bad then I don't think they should ban it."
Clyde Williams, who believes the ads should be banned, said he sees many more of them in his Bronx neighborhood than in Manhattan.
"Specifically, people of color have been targeted for addiction, period," Williams said. "They're targeting the young children and they become alcoholics before you even know it."
Rider Gayle Jones lives in Brooklyn and said she sees too many of these ads.
"I think it's promoting drinking and it's not good," Jones said.
An MTA spokesman said the ads generated $7.5 million for the agency in 2014 and they don't place them within 500 feet of schools, playgrounds or places of worship.
