Anti-Vaxx Ad Appears In Crown Heights Bus Stop

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — City officials rushed Thursday to remove an anti-vaccine ad set up at a Brooklyn bus stop, which they said might have been posted by breaking into the ad case.

The ad — which features "Ten Reasons Not To Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19" — appeared at the Kingston Avenue and Carroll Street stop, quickly drawing the attention of hundreds of New Yorkers when a photo was posted in a since-deleted Tweet on Thursday morning.

Within hours, city officials announced it would be taken down.

"Street furniture will not promote vaccine disinformation in our city. This poster is coming down today," a Department of Transportation tweet stated.

The poster appeared in a portion of Crown Heights with the eighth-lowest vaccination rate in the city, according to ZIP code-based data.

Just under 60 percent of residents in the ZIP code covering the eastern part of Crown Heights had received at least their first dose, data shows. The area has consistently seen one of the lowest vaccination rates citywide.

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The poster features claims that have been disproven by science surrounding the coronavirus vaccine, including a claim that vaccines "do absolutely nothing to stop the Delta variant." The Centers for Disease Control has found that COVID-19 vaccines are still highly effective against the Delta variant.

The top reason on the list cites data commonly used by anti-vaxxers about death rates that fact-checkers found is inaccurate and misses key context from the CDC.

New York Times reporter Michael Gold pointed out that the ad seems to replicate a pro-vaccine ad distributed by the city's health department and Jewish health groups.

It was not immediately clear how the anti-vaxx version was added to the bus stop, given that officials said the company who handles advertising for New York City transit did not sell the ad.

In fact, the department was investigating whether someone had broken into the street sign to add the poster.

"It’s possible that someone pried open the glass casing," the department wrote. "We’ll continue to investigate and share more information as soon as we can."

The person who posted the photo said she decided to take it down because DOT is "on the case."

When asked for more details Thursday, a DOT spokesperson pointed Patch to the department's original statement.

The MTA noted that they do not manage content at bus shelters, which are controlled by the city.

"We appreciate NYC DOT announcing it will remove ads that spread disinformation during a public health crisis," they said in a statement.

This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.