They aren’t even confederate flags. They just LOOK that way.
Via Fox 5 NY:
The MTA says it is going to “modify” tiles in a Manhattan subway station that people have complained look like Confederate Flags.
The pattern of tiles have been in the Times Square station for almost 100 years. The architects are said to have installed them to pay homage to the Southern roots of former New York Times newspaper head Adolph S. Ochs.
The MTA has claimed the tiles actually are meant to honor Times Square’s nickname as the “Crossroads of the World” and are not Confederate Flags.