I won't be surprised to see this worked out and the orchestra appears at Lincoln Center next year.

Nor would I. And issuing a press release about it, which I imagine is what they did, sounds like a sensible way to help bring that about. Stupidity flourishes best in the dark, so bringing it into the light can sometimes work wonders. (And if this had been the British government laying down these kinds of rules over giving passports for the orchestra, for example, you can guarantee it would have been publicly humiliated and crucified.)

Everybody gets knocked and teased from time to time. Getting riled at that kind of thing just encourages it. As the saying almost goes "the bigger they are, the harder they fall for it"...