THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NYC CARRIAGE HORSE STABLES -- ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH TO ACCEPT IT?

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NYC CARRIAGE HORSE STABLES...

There is so much misinformation out there that people who care about the carriage horse issue in NYC and support a ban do not know what to believe.  I will attempt to disabuse you of any preconceived notions you may have after being fed a diet of the Daily News and NY Post or listening to Council Members like Espinal and Crowley, both of whom have borrowed the pages from the Carriage Driver's play book.

Please accept this as a fact:   The truth is not getting out to the public.  

In this blog, I will address the stable issue only.  The carriage drivers and their supporters claim that Steve Nislick, the head of NYClass, wants this property.  He does not.  The sooner you accept this truth, the sooner you will begin to question the other lies such as the "good union jobs" or the "horses will all go to slaughter if there is a ban."

These and other  lies will be addressed in the near future.  We have no conflicts of interest, do this work for free, and only want to save the horses from a life that often ends at the auctions.  We are not part of, nor do we have any affiliation with, NYClass.   The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages  began this campaign in 2006.  We are a 501-(c) -4, incorporated in 1995 under The Coalition for NYC Animals, Inc.

• FIRST RULE:  Always question what you hear from the main stream media - whether right wing or seemingly progressive.  They all have ulterior motives, which may not be apparent.  This includes the NY Daily News, NY Post, Wall Street Journal, Crain's NY Business, Newsweek, Fox News, NY-1 and the editorial board of the NY Times.  The Daily news, particularly, is a bastion of yellow journalism.  They have ulterior motives to bring down Mayor deBlasio because they cannot tolerate his progressive policies.  None of these media sources supported deBlasio in the Mayoral primary - although some did come around in the general election.  It was the people who gave the Mayor his landslide -- not the media.  
• NYCLASS:  We have total confidence that Steve Nislick/NYClass has no interest in the stable properties.  It is intentional propaganda by the right wing media in NYC aided by the Cavalry Group, lobbyists for puppy mills and horse slaughter and now lobbying to keep the carriage trade in NYC.  
• SENSELESS:  Why would Steve Nislick covet these two small parcels of property for years and years when there was so much else available (if he wanted it) since it is an urban renewal project that extends over many blocks.  Answer:  he would not and if you believe this, then you have fallen for the lies perpetuated by the right wing media and the unions that have been duped by them.  

• THESE ARE THE STABLES:  The two stables pictured here fall in the path of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, which has been going on for more than ten years - many more years than NY Class has been in existence.  The Byrne Brothers stable is on the left and West Side Livery is on the right.  Whether or not the carriage trade comes to an end, these stables' days are numbered.  There is nothing about either of these two properties that is special or desirable.  The area is being built up and gentrified to service everyone.  Google it and find out for yourself.  We need to stop catering to the special needs of a few entitled people - the carriage owners.  
• $$$$$$$$:  The buildings are worth about $10,000,000 each and both owners stand to make a huge profit.  While it should go without saying, they can also decide to whom they will sell the property.  Yet there are some people who have fallen for this argument without questions.  
• OTHER STABLES:  The other stables on W. 48th and W. 52nd are not in this redevelopment area so can keep this property for anything their hearts desire. They can continue to rent out to pedicabs or turn it into a parking garage.  
• MORT ZUCKERMAN, multi billionaire owner of the NY Daily News and strong supporter of former Speaker Christine Quinn who was endorsed by his paper, is also the executive chairman of Boston Properties, a large real estate investment trust.  Google to see their ownership of this city and their involvement with the Hudson Yards Project.  

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Fashion Week NYC: Some of us care - some of us could not care less.

Fashion Week in NYC.   Some of us care.

Some of us could not care less. 

what went on behind the scenes...

Fashion designer Victor deSouza, in an obvious desperate attempt to get noticed, decided to use models and horse drawn carriages to show off his “designs” – scheduled for the evening of September 3^rd. 

Sponsored by NYClass, about 80 activists protested – representing many groups – the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, Friends of Animals, PETA and the Animals' Battalion.

   

Meeting at 5:30 PM  in front of the NY Athletic Club on Central Park South, we were told by club employees that the event had been canceled because of the protests. 

 Never try to con an activist.  

We thought they were trying to get us to go away and remained until just before 7 PM when activists went one block to Sixth Avenue where the carriages were converging to load up the models.

This blog by Donny Moss, is the best representation of what happened.  Activists and Fashion Models Clash in Mid Town

models looking like "what did i get myself into?"

OK - enough with fashion.  I'd like to take a different approach – two things that happened last night that shed light on the kinds of people in and associated with the carriage trade -- those who exploit horses and do not recognize the wrong they do. 

   

      As the seven horse-drawn carriages waited within Central Park for the models to make their entrance,  Edita Birnkrant, head of the NYC office of Friends of Animals, reached over to pet the horse hooked to the carriage of a well known driver, whose wife is the VP of the Carriage Horse Association.   She noticed him shaking his head and wanted to soothe him

      He said to her “Don't you dare touch my horse. That's my PROPERTY. Get your hands

Property

off my PROPERTY!” 

"Property"  I say?  I thought this was a sentient being - a horse.  Yes I know that horses are legally property but we were not in a court room.  We were in Central Park.  And aren't these the same people who got the Daily News to report on how much they "love" their horses and that they are part of their family?  These horses are just like a TV or computer.  When they get old, they are discarded too.  

      This just shows what we knew all along.  They objectify their animals.  They are "property."  They can be sold  just like a car; they can sent to an auction and picked up  by a kill buyer with no tears lost because "it" is only property.   

      The second incident of note ...

      One of our very favorite and most dependable activists is Natasha Brenner.  She, along with her late husband Noah, had been regulars on the activist front – coming to and actively supporting the ban carriage horse trade activism, the Defeat Christine Quinn campaign – among others.  Natasha will soon be 93 years old and is an inspiration.    Although she walks with a cane, she has more energy and spirit than many people half her age.  She is always willing to “go.”  She is simply one of the “guys.” 

She was recently interviewed on TV during our Gracie Mansion demo. Click here. 

Natasha and several terrific activists

We do not know the woman in red pictured below.  She is involved with the carriage trade and often shows up at City Hall with them.  Last night she looked at the crowd and saw Natasha and said “Look at her – who let her out of the nursing home?”  Someone told Natasha who wanted to know who said it.  She immediately went over to the woman and said “I’m not in a nursing home” to which the woman replied  “well you should be.”

Don’t think this cruel woman got away with saying that.  Several of us took her to task.  

This is what these people are.  Soulless.  They cannot argue against a ban based on the

Yup this is the one - not exactly young herself

merits unless they lie about the industry; what a horse needs; the number of accidents – and then call us names -- criticizing our looks, age, trying to expose any personal information they have on us - about our jobs, employers, loss of a pet.  They are cruel.  And they are the ones who have the horses.  

It is childish, mean spirited and low class.  They have also shown themselves to be racists, anti women, anti gay and anti anything that is not them. 

I expect that they will send me nasty, threatening,  vile anonymous messages because of this blog -- this is how they fight.  They tell lies while donning a mask  of anonymity.  

Note: photos by Miriam Lucille

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