OUT OF CONTROL:
CARRIAGE DRIVERS THUMB THEIR NOSE AT THE LAWS

For a few days anyway, NYC is experiencing good weather -- a far cry from the recent heat waves with hot, humid and unbearable weather.  Not even halfway through the summer and we’ve already experienced many uncomfortable  days well into the 90s   -  tough for humans -  but much worse for NYC’s carriage horses who have no voice and no choice.  Studies show that horses feel the heat more than humans.   Because they cool themselves by sweating, less moisture will evaporate when it is very humid, causing them to become more susceptible to the negative effects of heat stress.   

Carriage horses are protected to a degree by a NYC law that requires drivers to take them back to their stable when it reaches 90 degrees – humidity not included.  But here’s the rub. 

This law can only be enforced by an ASPCA officer who uses a special thermometer to take the temperature.   The ASPCA has 14 agents  and if one is not on site to take the temperature, the drivers can legally go about their business.  This happens often enough.  So it is not about the CNN thermometer at Columbus Circle or someone’s iPhone reading or a Parks Department employee who wants to do the right thing.  Those do not matter.  

To make matters worse, it is generally 45 minutes to one hour after a suspension when the horses get back to the stables; traveling up to two miles over hot asphalt under the burning sun.  There is no provision in the law that describes how a suspension is lifted, so many of the drivers eventually come out on their own when it is still over 90 degrees.   

NYC horse-drawn carriage drivers have been out of control this summer and breaking the law with abandon.  No one is cracking the whip on them and it has taken random eyewitnesses to document these abuses.  

During the recent heat wave at the end of June going into July, drivers were seen overloading their carriages and working after the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Officer had suspended them.  Yes – if the law can be violated, it will be.  A maximum of four adults are allowed in a carriage or a combination of fewer adults and children.  A passenger is not allowed to sit in the driver’s seat.  But it is not considered a violation unless an ASPCA officer sees it and issues a ticket. 
To make matters worse, it is generally 45 minutes to one hour after a suspension when the horses get back to the stables; traveling up to two miles over hot asphalt under the burning sun.  There is no provision in the law that describes how a suspension is lifted, so many of the drivers eventually come out on their own when it is still over 90 degrees. 

NYC horse-drawn carriage drivers have been out of control this summer and breaking the law with abandon.  No one is cracking the whip on them and it has taken random eyewitnesses to document these abuses.  

During the recent heat wave at the end of June going into July, drivers were seen overloading their carriages and working after the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Officer had suspended them.  Yes – if the law can be violated, it will be.  A maximum of four adults are allowed in a carriage or a combination of fewer adults and children.  A passenger is not allowed to sit in the driver’s seat.  But it is not considered a violation unless an ASPCA officer sees it and issues a ticket.

On July 5th, an eyewitness to this overloading saw carriage a carriage  with six passengers - one adult sitting next to the driver as shown in the photo and the carriage filled with five people.  

Another eye witness captured a similar violation of the law on July 4th with another carriage carrying  five adults.