Bill To Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages In Central Park Moves Forward

Councilman Mark Levine, (left)  Danny Dromm, State Assembly Linda Rosenthal,  Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Allie Feldman, executive director of NYCLASS, and other supporters in front of City Hall yesterday. 

(Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

Supporters of a bill to ban horse-carriages from Central Park rallied outside City Hall yesterday in the rain to support the controversial legislation.

Proponents say the new legislation being worked by the de Blasio administration provides a unified approach to addressing the issues. The law would establish a displaced worker transitioning training program, seek an economically viable alternative to replace the carriage rides, and include important provisions to help safeguard the future health and well-being of the animals. 

The bill would offer displaced carriage drivers a free green taxi medallion provided they purchase handicapped-accessible cabs.  

The legislation calls for the solicitation of proposals for a system to replace the horses. On Monday the city will announce the releasing of a Request For Information (RFI) seeking proposals from the private sector to replace the horse rides in Central Park.

The law would be contingent upon the city not renewing the carriage drivers' licenses which are all set to expire on March 31,  2016. 

Requirements for the horse owners to humanely transition the horses from carriage rides include a provision that owners may not sell or donate a horse to slaughter would also be included in the deal.   

Supports of the legislation held up signs at the press conference. 

Although not part of the legislation animals rights activists have been in touch with animal sanctuaries who they say have pledged to house all of the displaced horses if the bill passes.  One large sanctuary in California has committed to taking one hundred horses and another has pledged to accommodate fifty according to Edita Birnkrant,  Friends of Animals’ Campaign Director. 

The legislation will not come up for vote until at least June 2015. During that time the city will conduct an economic impact assessment over the next 6 months to asses what impacts eliminating the horse-drawn carriage industry would have according to a source who was debriefed on the plans. 

The bill, supported by Mayor Bill de Blasio, will be introduced at a City Council meeting on Monday.  

The Mayor greeted supporters of the bill on the steps of City Hall on his way to a press conference in Brooklyn where he stated he intends to personally lobby City Council members to pass the bill.

“I certainly intend to talk to council members about it, and I think we’re going to have a lot of support in the council,”   Mayor Bill de Blasio said at an unrelated press conference.

"We’ll begin the process of talking through with Council members why we think it’s important for the future of the city to do this right, and also engaging in a public dialogue," he said.

"I have a lot of confidence that the common sense will win the day here, that it just doesn’t make sense to have horses in the middle of the streets of the busiest city of the country, that we can find a productive way forward,” the Mayor stated.

Friends of Animals has been raising awareness of what it says are the unsafe working conditions and has been lobbying to ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park since 2006.  

“We are immensely gratified that Mayor De Blasio has produced a carriage horse ban bill that will be officially introduced into the New York City Council in a matter of days, ”  Ms. Birnkrant said in a statement. 

"We fully support the Council’s swift action to pass this crucial legislation so that the dangerous and abusive carriage horse trade can finally be abolished. Friends of Animals has monitored, criticized and agitated against the carriage horse trade for over 40 years from our Columbus Circle office. Finally, a Mayor and City Council are primed to banish, not just attempt to regulate, this cruel industry," she said.

Former City Council member Tony Avella first introduced legislation in 2007 to ban horse-drawn carriages in New York City. The law was not supported by then Mayor Michael  Bloomberg or Speaker Christine Quinn.

"De Blasio champions animal rights issues as being a progressive issue and part of a social justice movement—for that we applaud him and support him fully in this history-making legislation that will set a far-reaching precedent and send a message around the world that we can and should make big societal changes to protect animals,”  Birnkrant continued. 

"We finally have a Mayor and Speaker that gets it." 

The horse and carriage industry has vowed to go to court if the City Council approves the bill.

Activists holding up posters with photographs depicting various accidents involving horse-drawn carriages. 

Horses have largely disappeared from the Central Park landscape since the closing of the Claremont stables on West 89th Street in 2007. 

Although once an integral part of the original 19th century Olmsted and Vaux design, the park's 4.25-mile bridle path are now mostly devoid of horses. They have instead been replaced with pedestrians, runners, cyclists and dogs. 

A five-stall stable built for the mounted unit of the Parks Enforcement Patrol opened in 2011 just south of the Central Park Zoo.

Read More:

City Could Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages as Soon as May 2016

The Village Voice - Dec. 2 2014  - By Tessa Stuart 

Horseless Carriage Bill Pushed-Electric Car Eyed

City Council Intro. 86A, sponsored by Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito calls for a phase-out of horse carriages in New York City and replacing them with the 21st Century "Horseless Carriage."

New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), has partnered with The Creative Workshop in Dania Beach, Florida to design and create fully electric, vintage-replica vehicles to replace the horse-drawn carriages. According the group, the electric cars can provide rides for tourists, offer jobs to workers currently in the horse carriage industry with the potential for higher wages, and maintain the historic and romantic feel of the tours.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio joined NYCLASS at a press conference on Friday.

Manhattan

They came from all walks of life, some in heavy horse suits despite midday June weather, to descend on the steps of City Hall and rally for an end to New York City’s horse-drawn carriages, according to Our Town.

They are New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets (NYCLASS), as well as community members and advocacy groups, who think the city’s horse-drawn carriages are archaic and harmful all across the board.

Diane Moss, a native New Yorker who is not affiliated with NYCLASS but gives money to PETA, is appalled no one seems to be paying attention.

“I have hated horse-drawn carriages since I was conscious,” said Moss. “We need someone in the White House who cares about animal rights.” For now, advocacy groups like NYCLASS are focusing more locally.

PETA Representative Emily McCoy, NYCLASS Executive Director Carly Knudson, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio alternately took the stand Friday to discuss the issue:

“One third of the city’s horses are cycled out yearly and 70 out of 200 horses disappear,” said McCoy. “Accidents are a frequent occurrence.” One sign held by a rally participant clarified: “10 Accidents in 10 Months.”

“That says enough,” said de Blasio of the sign.

McCoy added that the horses are treated inhumanely once cycled out; many are slaughtered post-retirement.

NYCLASS discussed its solution to the problem of animal cruelty: the eco-friendly electric vintage-replica car. Introduced into legislation by Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito under Intro 86A, the fleet of cars would create jobs, increase the industry’s income and allow for more work days in addition to being safer and cleaner, explained Knudson.

The substitution would also happen at no cost to the city. NYCLASS proposes a prototype pilot program before implementing the car, which would be funded entirely by NCLASS. Currently “employed” horses would be humanely retired by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

The speakers condemned Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for sidestepping the issue. According to de Blasio, Bloomberg fears the repercussions for tourism if horse-drawn carriages—the supposed epicenter of NYC touristic appeal, joked de Blasio in his own words—are banned.

When asked what other options are being explored, Knudson told NY Press her group was only currently considering the electric vintage-replica car. She said other bills propose an outright ban, but her group acknowledges the economic necessity of finding an alternative to the carriages.

Moss agreed with this assessment. Asked her thoughts on the replica car, she told NY Press: “I don’t know anything about the car, but it’s offering an alternative. [Carriage drivers] only know this trade.” Following her comments, Moss donned a NYCLASS t-shirt, grabbed a sign and joined the rally.

NY Press took to the streets surrounding Central Park, where these horse-drawn carriages are most prevalent, to find out if the end of the carriages means the decline of romance (or at least tourism as Bloomberg proposes).

One semi-retired carriage driver, who would not give his name, has been driving carriages in the park on and off for thirty years. He said there have been proposals like this one for years, and Central Park will simply never allow it. When asked why, he told the Press: “It just goes against the characteristics of the park.

“This is an animal rights Trojan Horse,” he said. “They just want access to the horse stables.”

The carriage driver was sitting in a horse carriage at the time, but when asked the horse’s name, he replied he did not know.

When asked if he thought replacing carriages with vintage-replica cars might hurt tourism, he conceded there are enough touristic activities in New York for it not to have an effect.

He also added if, hypothetically, the replacement happened, he would not drive one of the cars.

When asked if a vintage car could be as romantic as a horse-drawn carriage, he said: “It’s not about the romantic aspect. The park was designed for carriages. It was a demonstration area for carriages to show off in the horse-drawn era.”

Four other carriage drivers declined to talk to the Press.

Many tourists enjoying Central Park on a Friday evening hardly seemed interested in the carriages. When asked if he would ever ride in a horse-drawn carriage, Lee Sang Yun, who was visiting New York City with a friend, said: “No. There’s no time. We like to walk.”

The Ramajos, a French couple enjoying ice cream cones on a park bench, had similar feelings. “No, we don’t want to take a horse-drawn carriage,” said Mrs. Ramajo. “We want to walk,” said her husband.

Regardless of the carriage driver’s dismissal of this proposal, according to NYCLASS, 85,000 New Yorkers support the Vintage-Replica Car Trial, and Knudson says they will not stop fighting until horse-drawn carriages in the city are a thing of the past.

Read More:

The End Of Carriages

Pols and Residents fight to Replace Horse-Drawn Carts With Replica Cars

Our Town - June 17, 2012 - By Alissa Fleck