The battle lines were drawn yesterday in the escalating war over whether the city’s 220 buggy-pulling horses should be set free, or remain beasts of burden.
More than 500 people from both factions packed City Hall for the first public hearing on the proposed ban, with many forced to stand for the more-than-four-hour debate.
The emotionally charged exchanges began on the steps outside, as Councilman Tony Avella – flanked by 50 banner-waving supporters – faced off with furious carriage drivers desperate to keep their jobs,
“We need jobs,” yelled the carriage operators, represented by Teamsters Local 553, which they joined late last year. “No more unemployment.”
Those shouts were countered by chants of “Ban the carriages!” and “Set them free!”
Avella’s plan to ban the carriages – and liberate the beasts that pull them – has been in the works since 2007, when one horse was killed in an accident.
In the two years since, he said, three animals have been killed and five people injured.
Inside City Hall, 135 people lined up to speak on the issue.
“At this time of economic hardship, it’s your time to give an industry a chance for survival,” Kierman Emanus, 35, a Local 553 executive who has driven carriages for 11 years, told the Department of Consumer Affairs, which chaired the hearing.
“It will let me feed my family, my wife and my three children. Please, help me keep my job.”
The carriages had the backing of city tourism chiefs.
“We believe horse-drawn carriages are part of the fabric and integrity of New York City,” said George Fertitta, CEO of the city’s tourism organization, NYC & Company.
“It’s part of the magic and, if it’s banned, it will be sorely missed.”
There was no vote on the bill yesterday.
Avella and his supporters – including actress Rue McClanahan – claim the buggy industry is animal abuse.
“This is so important,” she said at the press conference.
The lawmaker’s bill says the horses are exposed to extreme temperatures, forced to breathe exhaust fumes, brave traffic and work exhausting hours before spending their nights in tiny stables.
Carriage supporters say Avella (D-Queens) has no evidence of abuse, and the industry has survived for more than 85 years without a single neglect violation.
Hobbling it would cause cruelty to the drivers and stablemen, as well as the animals.
“These are working horses,” said Stephen Malone, a spokesman for the Horse and Carriage Association of New York. “They love to work.”
Driver Demos Dopoulos said, “They are looking to put 400 people and their families out of a job.”
“Many of these drivers are first-generation New Yorkers who have made a life here.”