Taxi ad fighting antisemitism removed for taking swipe at Mamdani’s free NYC bus plan

Taxi ads that declared “Not gonna hide my Jewish star for a free bus ride” — in a dig at Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s free bus plan — have been suddenly taken down after The Post reported on them.

Jamie Lowe, the executive vice president of the ad placement firm Somo, told reps from the group JewBelong that he removed their digital ad from atop yellow cabs after receiving complaints, according to a transcript of their video meeting.

“You saw the article that ran in the Post today, you can imagine that it created a buzz, which it did … But the ad that’s running is obviously somewhat anti- the mayor of New York City,” Lowe said during the Tuesday call.

“There were complaints across the board this morning to us, to the New York City Taxi Commission, and I’ll… I’ll leave it at that,” he said.

Lowe later clarified that he spoke to Ron Sherman, the head of Metropolitan Taxi Board of Trade representing 25% of the taxi industry — not the TLC now overseen by Mamdani — about the controversy.

“Just as the New York Post article said, it’s the slap of Mandami. That’s the challenge that we have,” Lowe told JewBelong co-founder Stacy Stuart and PR rep Jenny McIntosh in the meeting.

Reps for JewBelong, which aims to fight antisemitism, said it’s the first time in five years of existence that one of its ads has been censored.

During the conversation, Lowe admitted he didn’t want to offend Mamdani and other powers to be at City Hall.

“I personally will be careful in running advertising that is somewhat, attacking City Hall or the mayor. So, I would say, yes, the political nature of the bus comment, and the mayor reference at this point in time is the challenge,” Lowe said.

He and another sales agent suggested JewBelong alter the content of the ad to remove the implied digof Mamdani’s bus plan, but the group refused.

Lowe said his firm had the discretion under the contract with JewBelong to “reject or cancel any ad at any time without liability,” according to the transcript of the meeting.

JewBelong reps said Somo was censoring a campaign against antisemitism.

“Why are Jewish voices being silenced in New York City at the very moment antisemitism is surging? Our taxi campaign was created to garner attention and start a conversation about the compromises many Jews feel pressured to make about visibility and identity amid rising antisemitism,” said JewBelong co-founder Archie Gottesman.

“Pulling it sends a chilling message that speaking out against hate is acceptable, until it makes someone uncomfortable. We refuse to be silent.”

The Anti-Defamation League also condemned the shutdown of the ad campaign.

“If acknowledging that Jewish New Yorkers sometimes feel compelled to hide visible symbols of their identity is considered controversial, that should alarm all of us,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

“Suppressing awareness does not reduce antisemitism, especially at a time when we are seeing an alarming amount of antisemitic incidents,” he said.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission said it played no role in the ad being removed from taxi rooftops.

“We’re not aware of any complaints to the TLC related to these ads and we certainly haven’t asked for them to be removed,” said TLC spokesman Jason Kersten.

“We respect free speech, and for us to take any action the ads would have to violate our rules related to rooftop advertising, which these clearly don’t.”

The TLC rule states that the rooftop ad fixture provider “must not display advertising that is offensive to public morals” or violate penal law.

Lowe declined a request for further comment.

Ron Sherman of the Metropolitan Taxi Board of Trade declined to comment.

The ad controversy comes amid Mamdani’s strained relations with segments of the Jewish community.

Mamdani supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel and accused the Jewish state of committing genocide in Gaza.

He also said he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming he’s a war criminal.