Stop Horse Drawn CarriagesNew De Blasio Proposal for NYC Horse Carriages - Too Little Too Late
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FROM

Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
September 2018

The deBlasio administration recently announced a big win for the NYC carriage horses that will not help the horses.

WHAT CAN YOU DO:

  1. Don't drink the kool-aid. Please question and think for yourself.
  2. Post a comment on the Department of Transportation Web Site. http://rules.cityofnewyork.us
  3. Testify at the Department of Transportation hearing on October 3rd at 1pm. The Bid Room at 55 Water Street, Concourse Level. Call 212-839-6500.

The deBlasio administration recently announced a "big win" for the NYC carriage horses in proposing the relocation of the hack line on Central Park South to five locations within Central Park. Some people are unfortunately buying this alternative reality and I can only conclude that they do not have or care to have the facts.

Have our standards fallen so low that we laud the proposal to move the hack lines into Central Park as a great achievement? – are we so desperate for crumbs that we cheer? This is a disingenuous proposal by the Mayor to once again try to pull the wool over your eyes. Please rely on real statistics and facts - not hyperbole.

PLEASE NOTE THIS:

  • The horses will still be on the street.
  • Their stables are on the far west side of Manhattan - going to and from the park is where many of the accidents have occurred - NOT on the hack line. The carriages will still be mixing with heavy traffic here and around the park.
  • The Dept of Transportation needs to tell us how the carriages will access the two water troughs. The only way I see is for them to travel on the existing hack line on Central Park South. So far, they have ignored our requests.

ACCIDENTS

Carriage drivers are not required to report accidents. So unless the public knows about it and gets the NYPD and/or media involved - it never happened. It is to a carriage driver's benefit not to report an accident that will hurt the reputation of the trade.

ACCIDENT STATISTICS:

We have recorded 103 accidents since 1982. 19 of those have been at or near the hackline that is proposed to be relocated. But 14 of them happened in Central Park. The balance of 70 happened around the city in different areas. The accidents were typical - horses spooking, collapsing, crashing into something or being crashed into; dead horses. You may see the list on our blog. See NYC CARRIAGE HORSE ACCIDENTS - THE HARSH TRUTH - 103 ACCIDENTS -- 23 HORSE DEATHS

Statistics do not bear out the claim that it is safer to move the carriages into the park.

DISINGENUOUS PROPOSAL:

This is another case of Alternative Facts by the de Blasio administration via the Department of Transportation. The relocation of the hack line to five different places in Central Park is meant to deceive unquestioning people into believing that the carriages will be off the streets and mixing with cars – and they will get a respite in the “tree-lined park.” This is simply not true. I wonder if the horses look at the green grass in Central Park and wish they were free so they could graze or roll on the grass or back up to a tree to scratch their rump. Instead, they will continue between the shafts of their carriages pulling tourists – in extreme weather conditions, working 9 hours a day, 7 days a week. What we as a society do to these animals in the name of frivolous entertainment is despicable and casts a dark shadow on this city. We support a ban or nothing. But we still ask for honest answers to our questions regarding this new proposal.

LAWS NOT ENFORCED:

Most of the street laws are not enforced including the ones about leaving horses unattended and untethered (very dangerous) and giving them 15 minute breaks every two hours. If the deBlasio administration had the good faith to try to enforce the existing regulations, it would be even more difficult to enforce in five different locations.

WHAT CAN YOU DO:

  1. Don't drink the kool-aid. Please question and think for yourself.
  2. Post a comment on the Department of Transportation Web Site. http://rules.cityofnewyork.us
  3. Testify at the Department of Transportation hearing on October 3rd at 1pm. The Bid Room at 55 Water Street, Concourse Level. Call 212-839-6500.

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