Call in the cavalry!
A stable full of powerful TriBeCa residents is mounting a fierce attack on the NYPD for evicting some of their favorite four-legged neighbors.
The department is kicking its mounted unit out of its 99-year-old home in lower Manhattan’s First Precinct to make way for new offices for cops in charge of World Trade Center security.
Local neigh-sayers claim the horses are a crucial for crime-fighting, and are circling the wagons to prep for an epic battle with the NYPD over the sudden move.
TriBeCa’s community board voted unanimously to oppose the relocation, and actor Harvey Keitel — who owns a home in the area — vowed to get his rich friends involved.
“I heard they’re looking to close your barn. I’m going to get all my friends to keep it open,” the “Reservoir Dogs” star told a mounted-unit cop, a police source said.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said that despite local opposition, the “plan is to move mounted out.”
Roughly a dozen horses are stabled at 19 Varick St.
Those animals will get new homes at the NYPD’s equine facilities on West 38th Street or at stables in the outer boroughs, said a police source.
Julie Menin, the Community Board 1 chairwoman, said that the unit was crucial to lower Manhattan because its cobblestone streets can be hard for police cars to navigate quickly.
“We need the mounted unit,” Menin said.
The district is often the scene of massive protests, since it includes City Hall and many municipal buildings, and is best patrolled by the NYPD on horseback, supporters claim.
“We 110 percent support and need the World Trade Center command center in lower Manhattan,” said Menin.
“We know we’re a terror target. But we want to make sure that the [mounted unit] isn’t diverted to Midtown.”
Although no one in the First Precinct’s mounted unit has been officially informed of the move, the NYPD has already begun measuring the old stables in anticipation of turning them into a state-of-the-art command post for 687 cops.
“They’re looking to replace the stalls with lockers and the hay with vending machines,” said a police source.