A city lawmaker’s campaign to hobble horse-drawn buggies would wipe out more than 300 jobs in an already dismal economy – but proponents say it’s a small price to pay to stick up for the helpless animals.
In an issue that has split the city, those who back City Councilman Tony Avella’s bill say the industry leaves animals exposed to extreme temperatures, exhausting hours and appalling conditions.
“The horses work in oppressive and inhumane weather conditions and dangerous driving conditions every day,” said Patrick Kwan, New York director for the Humane Society.
“Animal abuse is going on in Central Park every single day, and we want it stopped.”
But horse-and-carriage workers countered that the neigh-sayers were trying to put people out of work without evidence of abuse.
“I struggle to make $20,000 a year,” said Jesus Rojaf, 26, who’s been driving for four years and cleaned stables before that. “I grew up with horses, I love to be around them, and I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t do this.”
At a public hearing today, Avella (D-Queens) will pitch his plan to take the carriages – and the 220 horses that pull them – off New York’s streets.
In the last 18 months, there have been at least seven accidents involving horses in the city, with three horses killed and five people injured, said Avella.
“And that’s only the ones we know about,” he said.
Stephen Malone, a spokesman for the Horse and Carriage Association of New York, said they only kill the animals with kindness.
“In the 87 years since the first paid-for carriage ride in Central Park, we have never had an animal-abuse or animal-neglect violation,” he said.
Avella’s plan – which would not affect other work animals, such as police horses, which he claims are better treated – would suggest retraining carriage drivers to operate pedicabs or taxis.
He said the horses would be put out to pasture and claims he has offers from people willing to compensate the stable owners for the losses.
“Ban them,” said Tatiana Delacruz, 18, who sees the animals every day while working at Central Park’s Wollman Rink.
“They stand there, and they look so sad. They’re working all day in this weather,” she said. “I think it’s cruel.”
But Brazilian tourist Cassia Granzoto, 38, who took a ride yesterday, said, “It’s a beautiful way to see the park, and for people coming here from Brazil, it’s like a tradition to do it.
“I think the horses are happy.”
Frank Rodden, 46, a carriage driver and co-owner of Clinton Park Stables on the West Side, said, “This is a way of life for us. I love it, and my horses love it.
“The animal-rights people can scream abuse all they want, but that doesn’t make it true.”