Giants Get Custom License Plate, but Some Aren't Cheering Less than 24 hours after the Giants won the Super Bowl, the State of New York announced the release of a commemorative license plate to honor the team's championship. And fans cheered. But the decision to sell that plate has angered groups that have been trying for years to get the state to create customized plates for them. In 2004, the Department of Motor Vehicles placed a moratorium on designing new custom plates, a response to a lawsuit filed by an adoption-advocacy group that had sought such a plate. The department said the group's slogan for the plate, "Choose life," amounted to a political statement and denied the request, prompting the lawsuit. Since then, about 280 requests for custom plates have been held up, said Jackie McGinnis, a departmental spokeswoman. For seven years, Assemblyman James N. Tedisco, a Republican from Schenectady, has been pushing a bill to allow for the creation of a license plate honor the victims and heroes of Sept. Mr. Tedisco said that while he loved the Giants and was proud of their Super Bowl victory, it was inappropriate for the team to get a plate when Sept. 11 victims had not. "That they couldn't find a way in seven years to honor these heroes, but in seven, eight hours they can find a way to honor athletes?" he said. The plate for the Giants, four-time Super Bowl winners, does not violate the moratorium because it is an alteration of one that had been in circulation before 2004 and was last updated after the 2008 championship, Ms. McGinnis said. The moratorium allowed the state to continue selling the custom plates in existence and any updates to them, she said. On the Giants championship plate, Ms. McGinnis said, "the Roman numerals have changed on it, the helmet has changed on it, but it's basically the same." Currently, about 300 custom plates are available, with costs ranging from $60 to $90. They promote, among other things, most local sports teams (including the Knicks, the Mets, the Jets and the Yankees), some professions (visiting nurses, podiatrists, acupuncturists), labor unions (the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the Firemen's Association of the State of New York) and causes (animal population control, multiple sclerosis research, environmental protection). Those whose applications have been suspended since the moratorium include Laos War Veterans, the Pony Express Motorcycle Club and the Lung Cancer Alliance, Ms. McGinnis said. In the case of the "Choose life" plate, the advocacy group, the Children First Foundation, applied for the plate in 2002. After the application was denied, the group sued, and a federal judge in November ruled that the state must approve the plate design application. But the state has appealed. Although she is a Giants fan, Dr. Elizabeth Rex, the president and co-founder of Children First, said the decision to quickly grant the Giants a license plate added "insult to injury." "Our license plate is a pro-adoption license plate," she said. We support adoption as a good choice. Adoption is a pro-life choice that everyone can support, whether you're pro-life or pro-choice. A federal judge ruled in November that the state's refusal to allow the "Choose Life" plate violated the group's free speech rights, but the state has appealed. Mr. Tedisco said that money from a Sept. 11 plate would go to a scholarship fund for the children of victims and rescue workers, and that the rest of the money could be used to help pad the state's coffers. The moratorium on custom plates also infringes on First Amendment rights, Mr. Tedisco said. "Anything you put on there has nothing to do with the state's position," he said. It's your car. Ms. McGinnis said new plates could be added through legislation. But in 2006, Gov. George E. Pataki vetoed a bill that would have added several new custom plates, including the Sept. 11 plate.