New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority announced it will be removing nearly a century-old tile mosaics from a Manhattan subway station after receiving complaints they look too much like the Confederate battle flag. However, the MTA maintains the symbols have nothing to do with the Confederacy and everything to do with the

The station sits under Times Square, which wasn’t around during the Civil War, and the New York Times building. While some claim the symbols are an homage to Times founder Adolf Och’s southern ties, the MTA maintains the symbols have nothing to do with the Confederacy and everything to do with Times Square’s nickname as the “Crossroads of the World.”

If that’s the case then there’s no reason to take down the historic mosaics, which were kept as late as a 1998 remodel.

We are clearly in a time where logic and history are nothing compared to perception. It’s a shame MTA caved so readily to the ultra-sensitive riders claiming trauma and offense because to them one thing resembles something objectionable.

A better — and likely cheaper — solution would be to simply change the red-tinted tiles to green or gray or any other color. In any case, this is getting ridiculous.