A FLY ON THE WALL

The inner workings of the {{{{ brains }}}}  of the NYC carriage drivers and their supporters.    

A playbook for a pro carriage horse trade campaign 

famous controversial driver giving the finger to activists

The NYC carriage trade was recently shaken up by a scandal involving a driver yelling homophobic, racist and sexist remarks to activists who were handing out literature against the carriage trade – it was captured on YouTube and in the media.     

Instead of taking total responsibility for this outrage, the carriage trade went on the defensive,   essentially saying that the activists deserved this because the driver was provoked.  They got someone at Rupert Murdoch’s NY Post to write a piece against the activists - again missing the point.  

But they never took responsibility for their bad behavior.  

Entering into the drama is  Chronicles of the Horse or COTH,  an open forum in which many carriage trade supporters participate.  The thread referenced here is called  Headsup---What will happen to the NY carriage horses?   This link comes through on Google Alerts for all to see. 

The discussion  quickly morphed into  “what does one do with these awful people; these RARAS (radical animal rights activists); these extremists?”    

 

horse very close to taxi in heavy traffic

Like the bullies they are, all of these COTH folks hide behind their true identities with made up screen names, making outrageous accusations about us; telling lie after lie that they want desperately to believe.  They listen to the NYC Carriage Queen, (screen name) MichaleenFlynn, who gives them their marching orders with the current threat that NYC activists are targeting the entire world.  We want to put an end to all working animals and rid the world of all animals, including cats and dogs.  For the record -- the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriage is opposed to urban carriage horse businesses - like NYC, Rome, Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah - and so on.  This is our campaign.  Period.  

They delight in calling us “fanatics, rabid animal rights extremists, nut jobs, fruit bats and  loons“  They say things like “They're fanatics. There's little difference between them and people who fly planes into buildings.  They walk a fine line between activist and terrorist.”   

This is the extent of their argument.  It is never substantive.   They only deal with hyperbole. 

All of the comments below are copied and pasted from this forum.

One of the participants,  LauraKY from Kentucky,  said about the carriage association’s stance on this incidence,    “BTW, when an apology is followed by but or however, it's not an apology. You guys really need to work on your PR. You should have thrown him under the bus.”

Sounds reasonable?  Well we’ll get back to Laura in a minute.  She is preparing the playbook.   But in the meantime, these COTH members really believe the trade does not have the money to hire PR consultants.  The truth is that the carriage trade spends thousands on lobbyists each year and has hired PR consultants in the past.  They have money.  Believe it.  They are a cash only business. 

Lynwood, another participant,  actually believes this: “The horses are available for 24 hr inspection by the ASPCA , the Department of Parks , and the other multiple agencies that over see them.” 

Huh – not in my New York City.  The ASPCA is volunteer only and has only 14 agents for all of NYC and state.    The laws are either badly enforced or are inadequate.  24 hours?  Yes perhaps in her imagination.  . 

And this in response to criticism that activists use video cameras … “ …  the drivers are not filming because they are DRIVING. They are attempting to make a living around a group of close minded people hurtling insults and badgering their business away using false words like "abuse". "

News flash to Lynwood -- the drivers not only film but read and text while driving.   The Department of Health tried to stop this in 2010 with new proposed regulations.  The carriage trade intervened and the regulations were rescinded. 

And back to LauraKY who gives PR tips for the world to see.  My favorite is this one. 

  

“And while they're doing that they need to dig up any piece of dirt on the RARAs they can and make sure it gets publicity...make it personal, I'm talking about dirt on individuals, you want to discredit them...without letting them know they are behind it. Take a look at politics, that's all this is. That's how it's done. Pure negative campaigning rarely wins in the end.”

Really nasty stuff there, Ms. Laura.  This tells us a lot about you and the carriage trade.  This is why the world is in the state it's in. 

AlternetReality  says  about the drivers “They are threatened with sabotage and poison. Their homes are at risk, their families have been threatened by raras, and yet they have some of the best cared-for, nicest horses in the world, doing a job with horses in a city built by horses, carrying forward a tradition and trade over 5000 years old.

Frankly, if someone sat there berating me with lies, insults, and threats for as long they have, and using lies to smear my name and my career, I'd have lost my temper years ago and probably started swinging fists over it.”

 

Holy Molys,  Alternet – you really are in an altered reality.  Threats of sabotage?; threats of poison?  …  Invectives and comments - yes  – but in response to the drivers' nasty words    – but never threats.  And if you think for a minute that the carriage drivers do not do much of the provoking, then your choice of a screen name is quite accurate.  5,000 years?  Are you kidding?  Before Christ?  The carriage tourist trade only goes back to the late 1940s in NYC.  As  for the best cared for horses?  I would not be so quick to say that.  You are not here to witness the accidents – many of which are captured by random eyewitnesses; or the brutal force some of the drivers use on their horses when they pull them by the bit, or the fact that many get sent to auction or otherwise “disappear;” or the fact that many of the drivers violate the law by overloading and working when it is over 90 degrees. 

Then Goneriding 24 escalated this thread by saying   “Why isn't threatening murder and hurting families not hate speech? “  Threatening murder?!   Is she mad??  Who is threatening murder?!  Good grief.  These people have a bizarre imagination. 

Not to be left out of providing scenarios for PR, Alternet  also suggested this:   “...hire two actors (dressed as seniors from out of town...or on their honeymoon) and make sure one of the RaRa's who is hurling insults at them is close enough for a senior (the old gal) to take a swipe with her purse...make sure you have your cameras ready...THAT will make the news...and give it another kick start.  You want a u tube to go viral...against the rara's." 

 Some people have suggested that if I expose this, they will go undercover and we will no longer be able to witness their lunacy.    Whatever.  We know what they are like. 

And we'll continue to fight the good fight. 

In the meantime,  this Playbook is available for all to see.  Enjoy.  

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OUT OF CONTROL: NYC CARRIAGE DRIVERS

CARRIAGE DRIVERS THUMB  THEIR NOSE  AT THE LAWS

overloaded - with five adults + one next to driver

NYC is currently experiencing beautiful weather - moderate temperatures and low humidity.  But for how long?  Fingers and hooves crossed!  We have just moved out of an unbearable heat wave with hot and humid 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.

On July 5th, an eyewitness to this overloading saw 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 4^th with a carriage  carrying  five adults.  

On June 29^th and June 30^th,  these videos show carriages continuing to take passengers after the line was suspended because of temperature.  

Then later on July 5^th, several carriages continue to hang around trying to get passengers after the ASPCA suspended the hack line.  A few at the beginning of the video continued to take passengers.  Some of the others, aware of the filming, went back to the stable.  Two carriages  took passengers after the line was suspended. 

The next video, taken on July 8^th shows many carriages on the hack line when it was 90 degrees.  But remember, only the ASPCA officer can enforce this law and they were not there.  One of the eyewitnesses had to call the ASPCA three times before an officer  finally came out to enforce the law.     

Another common practice is that of carriage drivers using hand-held devices or reading while driving their carriage through city traffic.  This video is  just one example.  New drivers are now required to have a New York State Driver license so texting should be a violation.  In 2010, the Department of Health made suggestions to revise their existing regulations and included putting a ban on hand-held devices; reading, filming and otherwise not paying attention while driving.  The suggestions were eventually rescinded. 

There are 68 carriages in operation and that many can be working on any given day.  The drivers ply their trade in and around Central Park and later in the Times Square area.  Many will disregard the laws if they feel they can get away with it.   And because there is little enforcement of these inadequate laws, they often do.  

 

Every media poll that has been taken since 2006 has shown between 75 and 80% of respondents favoring a ban on horse-drawn carriages in New York City.  The people will not give up until this business goes the way of gas lamps and the horses are retired to  sanctuaries or good homes.

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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. 

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE HORSES?

"What will happen to the horses if there is a ban? Won't they go to slaughter?"

This very real concern has been addressed many times in our newsletter Horse Sense, our web site http://www.banhdc.org/,   in an article I wrote for One Green Planet, in the original Avella New York City Council bill that we helped draft and the current Avella/Rosenthal bill in the New York State legislature that would ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC.   

photo by Mary Culpepper

This is the most common question we have been asked since the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages began the campaign to ban the New York City carriage trade in 2006.  

Yet, we still get these questions.

HORSES ARE NOT A BILLBOARD: The question appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to scare tactics put out by the carriage trade  mixed with a genuine concern for the horses. People seem to make the assumption that the horse population they see in Central Park or on the streets of NYC is stagnant - like a billboard - never changing; that if there is a ban all the horses will go to slaughter. But the reality is that there is a huge turnover of horses in the business now – something that has been determined from analyzing Department of Health horse lists since 2005.

In one year, the average turnover is between 60 and 70 horses. This means that this number of horses were listed in the Department of Health horse registry for a particular year and not listed the following year. Where did all of these horses go?

THE REAL HIDDEN PROBLEM: Horses sold outside of NYC (most are) currently have no protection under the law. Records are not required to be sent to the Department of Health so it is not known where the horses end up. It is very possible many are brought to auction since that is the easiest and fastest way to recoup the cost of the horse and purchase a new one. Kill buyers frequent auctions such as New Holland in Pennsylvania, which is only a few hours from NYC.

The question people should be asking is - What is happening to the horses NOW?. -- Not what will happen to the horses if there is a ban. The fate of all of those horses currently lies in the hands of the owners.

A ban seems unlikely under the present administration of Bloomberg/Quinn. In an attempt to address this problem and make the owners accountable for their horses, the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages requested that a new bill be introduced into the City Council in September 2011 that would address the humane disposition of carriage horses. Sponsored by Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito, a press conference was scheduled for September 20th at noon to talk about this bill - Intro 670. The night before I received a call from Viverito’s office telling me that it was canceled by Speaker Christine Quinn.  
Viverito excused it by saying that she needed to concentrate on the electric car bill, which continues to go nowhere fast. I suspect that Quinn shut down the press conference because she did not want me using the “S” word – "SLAUGHTER"  and Viverito went along with her decision. What better way to kill a bill than to have its prime sponsor refuse to support it. This was shameful! Horse slaughter is a very real problem in the United States. In 2011, 133, 241 US horses were slaughtered.   

The carriage owners ply their trade on the streets of NYC, one of the great tourist cities of the world. In exchange for this opportunity, they must obey the laws governing this business. But the laws are inadequate and need to be extended to protect their horses – the ones they use up at the rate of 60-70 a year. They say the horses are privately owned and the government does not have the right to dictate how to “dispose” of them. Sorry guys - but you are too late with this argument. The law already addresses this issue - although inadequately - by requiring that the horses be disposed of in a “humane manner.” We are simply expanding on this requirement. Besides, taking a horse to auction frequented by kill buyers is not humane. Our bill - and the language in the current State bill – elaborates on this by requiring that the horses be adopted to a good home or sanctuary. 

The horses continue to fall off the rolls and none of the politicians care. If they did, they would address this issue. They continue to prop up the Council Speaker catering to her every whim.   

WHAT YOU CAN DO: You can call your Council Member and ask them to actively support Intro 670. Their contact information can be found here. If you live outside NYC, contact Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Calls are much more effective than e-mails. 

NYC IS GETTING A NEW MAYOR: The mayoral election is in November 2013. The primary will be in either June or September of 2013. Stay tuned. Contact us at coalition@banhdc.org to get our newsletter to stay informed on this very important issue.

For years NYC has been cheated by the gods getting mayors whose attributes do not include compassion. Is it Karma? Who knows! The number of people voting has dropped significantly in the November elections and the primaries. Only 29% of registered voters cast their ballot in the 2009 mayoral election compared with about 45% across the United States and over 50% in the balance of New York State. This is an interesting report about voting in NYC.

What is going on? Why are people not interested? Is it because the current leaders do not address their concerns and they feel that their vote does not matter?   

Whatever the answer to that is, we need to be on top of this issue, pay attention and not jump on the most convenient bandwagon. Your vote does matter as long as it is cast for a good candidate who has a backbone, intelligence and compassion.

The mayoral race is still open and no one has risen to the top yet. Your choice of mayor in 2013 can have everything to do with whether NYC becomes a humane and compassionate city with respect for people and animals and whether the inhumane horse-drawn carriage trade becomes a thing of the past.
 
Please share with everyone you know.

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new blog

The NY Times’ standards are clearly not what they used to be. Of course, they did mess up in 2004 when they admitted that its flawed reporting during the build- up of the war in Iraq helped to foster the mistaken belief that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.


So – they are anything but “perfect.”

A recent editorial called Some Carriages Should Not Be Horseless - 8/4/11, seemed more likely to have come from one of the tabloids than the “paper of record”… an editorial that suggested to me that someone in power may have called in a favor to have this written …too much of a coincidence that it was published soon after three recent carriage horse accidents. It was an editorial that was filled with assumptions, biases and incorrect, arrogant pronouncements.

It starts out by suggesting that the horses are not allowed on the street when it is 90 degrees or under 18 degrees.


Maybe, maybe not.


The ASPCA is the only agency mandated by law to determine the ambient temperature for the horses and they have a special thermometer to do so. If the ASPCA officers are not at the hack line to take the reading, any of the other sources – whether the large CNN thermometer in Columbus Circle, weather.com, weather underground or 1010 WINS could read 95 and the drivers do not have to go back to the stable. The officer must officially suspend the operation for the day.


However, there is no provision in the law for how the suspension is to be lifted – so drivers have been known to check the radio for a reading and come out when they feel like it and when the ASPCA officers are not there.


Messed up? You bet.


But the Times naively thinks in fantasy land terms where laws are not only clear and direct, but obeyed and adequate.


In a rebuttal article written by Doris Lin of About.com on August 8, All Carriages Should be Horseless, Lin describes a situation a few years back when it took the ASPCA two hours to get all the drivers to go back to their stables during a snow storm. Why? Lin retorts “They care more about making a buck than they do about the horses.” I agree.



The horses work a nine-hour day, seven days a week. No days off. And the so called five week “vacation” is not what it is cracked up to be. The provision is unenforceable.


The ASPCA is not going to travel to Pennsylvania to see if the horse is grazing in a field or pulling a plow. Besides, for 47 weeks a year, the horses have no access to pasture other than to see grass over their blinders as they pull carriages through Central Park.


How cruel.


The NYS Horse Health Assurance Program NYSHHAP, which is part of the NYS government, recommends that horses work no more than four hours a day. This is only one of the reasons why the carriage trade does not qualify for voluntary certification. NYSHHAP is a certification program to promote equine health, care and welfare through the use of certain “best management practices” or standards.

The editorial goes on to insult State Senator Tony Avella and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal by suggesting that they introduced a bill to ban the horse-drawn carriage business in response to the three recent accidents, essentially jumping on a bandwagon like ambulance chasers.


Absolutely not true.


Senator Avella first introduced this bill in the City Council in 2007 and the present state version in June 2011. Rosenthal has been a big supporter of animal issues for many years and was happy to sign on to this bill.


It appears that the Editorial Board used the carriage industry as its source of information. It seems that they are not subject to being fact checked and can write whatever they want.


The writer goes on to say that the horse involved in a recent accident near the Plaza was not injured – ignoring the many pictures of the horse with blood streaming down his chest - pictures that made their way to several media outlets including Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell.


One of the most ridiculous statements was that people actually come to NYC to take a carriage ride suggesting that they might not visit if it was shut down. People may take the ride as an afterthought if they are in the neighborhood – but the real magic comes from Broadway shows, top rate restaurants, wonderful museums and concert halls, the fabulous shopping experience.

Carriage horses? I don’t think so.


As for the last comment about the horses being treated well and being closely monitored by the city -- really? The fact that the law requires stalls to be a minimum of 60 square feet, which is less than one half what they should be; the fact that the horse gets no pasture time for 47 weeks out of the year; the fact that drivers often negotiate heavy traffic, using their horses as battering rams and taking risks by using cell phones, standing up, reading magazines, turning around to take pictures while driving … how does this equate to horses being treated well?


There are many people who believe that a horse working between the shafts of his carriage for nine hours straight a day – without the ability to scratch an itch is not the way they were intended to live.

It is unethical and inhumane.


We started this campaign in 2006. Our website has a wealth of information. It is hard to fight this battle when the NY Times with all its power and prestige is allowed to write such an untruthful editorial and will not even publish a rebuttal.

PROACTIVE ... OR CATERED TO? THE NYC CARRIAGE TRADE

Are More Taxpayer Subsidies on the Way? 

The carriage drivers are petitioning the City of NY for more favors. Will they get them?

A recent letter * published in the NY Times on August 12th, stated that as members of the City’s Rental Horse Advisory Board, the carriage drivers are petitioning for:
-- hitching posts
-- dedicated carriage lanes
-- microchips to identify the carriage horses

They are also “offering input into driver licensing by the Department of Consumer Affairs.”

Interesting material here.

Notice they say nothing about providing shade for their horses while on the hack line or doing something about the very hot asphalt on which the horses must stand for hours on end. Both of these suggestions were included on P. 11 of the NYC Comptroller Audit of the industry in 2007.

No – what they are suggesting will make it easier for the drivers, not the horses.

The Rental Horse Advisory Board operates secretively behind closed doors and does not share their information publicly – even though a recent opinion from the Committee on Open Government said that they were subject to the Freedom of Information Law. In their arrogance, they do not care. Most of the members of this “democratic” board, which is part of the Department of Health, are part of or favor the carriage industry.

In the parlance of the vernacular, it is sham board …. A joke.    
 

The items on which they have petitioned are proof that the industry is unsafe and that these slow moving, dangerous and flimsy carriages should not be clogging up the streets of New York City - one of the most traffic congested cities in the country.

The answer is to shut them down and not to offer more Taxpayer subsidies.

Hitching Posts: The drivers like to park their carriage and leave their horse unattended while they are waiting for customers. They might be talking with their friends or otherwise not paying attention. The horse is ignored. The accident that occurred on July 16th is a good example of what happens with this carelessness. A carriage horse on Central Park South was spooked when the carriage in front backed up and came too close. The horse panicked and bolted, galloping up Central Park South for two blocks, with an empty carriage tied to his back. He crashed into a parked car.

A similar thing happened in September 2007, when a 12-year-old mare named Smoothie, also tied to an empty carriage, spooked and bolted. However, she ran the opposite way into a tree and died on the spot. Another unattended horse ran across Central Park South and crashed into a car. He lived.

If both drivers had been attentive, they would have seen their horse becoming agitated and could have prevented the horse from spooking.

Many, many people want this industry to be shut down. Why should taxpayers have to pay for hitching posts for a private industry ruining an otherwise nice street? The drivers should pay attention to what they are doing or get out of the business.
And where exactly would these posts be … on Central Park South? … in front of the deli or Starbucks where the drivers have been seeing leaving their carriage unattended while they go into the store ... In Times Square?

Dedicated Carriage Lanes:  Wow, this is a presumptuous one – even more so because there are only 68 carriages operating at any given time.

Ninth Avenue is the street most used when the carriages return to their stables on the far west side of Manhattan. It is packed with traffic – four lanes plus parking on the east side of the street. Ninth Avenue is the corridor that leads to the Lincoln Tunnel and is crowded most any time of the day. Buses do not even have their own lane. Ambulances from Roosevelt Hospital are a frequent part of the traffic congestion. It has been the site of several accidents. In 2006, a horse named Spotty, returning to his stable was spooked. He bolted and galloped into traffic throwing his driver who was hospitalized in a coma. Spotty crashed into a station wagon at 9th Avenue and 50th Street, wrapping around the top with his head on the ground. He was so badly injured that he was euthanized on the spot.

Tenth Avenue is the route most followed for the drivers to return to their stables.  It is just as congested as Ninth Avenue.   

Special lanes will not have any impact on the nature of the horse.   

By nature, horses are prey animals and will spook at the slightest provocation. At upwards of 2,000 pounds, they become unwitting weapons and can kill themselves or anyone who is in the way. There have been many accidents around the world where this has happened. In 2007, a five-year-old girl fell from a horse in a parade and was trampled and killed by spooked carriage horses. Last year, in an Iowan parade, a woman fell out of the carriage after the horse spooked. She was killed.

Within Central Park: The carriages share these roads with bikers, roller bladders and joggers.

A special lane – I don’t think so. Why should people enjoying the park give up part of the road for carriages? Carriage wheels have damaged the asphalt and the repair expenses are picked up by the City. Why is this?

Central Park South or 59th Street is adjacent to the park and is another street used often. The carriages are already clogging up the north side by the park. Double lanes go in both direction and this is the site of many illegal u-turns.

Microchips to identify the carriage horses: this is my “favorite” and the most sinister and transparent. What does that mean in the NY Times letter “to identify horses.” By whom? The auctions certainly do not have wands to find a missing carriage horse.

The only reason to microchip the horses is to make it more difficult for the public to identity them when there is a problem – or to find them at the auctions. There have been many situations when people have noticed problems with horses and have been able to report them to the authorities.

Micro chipping does not make sense. This is not the same as for cats and dogs who should be micro chipped because they could get lost and end up at the kill shelter. Wanding these animals could reunite them with their guardians.

But carriage horses do not run away. The 4-digit number engraved on their hoof needs to remain. It is the only way to hold this industry to some degree of accountability. This is how we have found carriage horses in auctions. This is how witnesses have identified horses with problems. On June 25, 2010, we found Bobby, a NYC carriage horse at a kill auction. Read his story here. We were able to trace him back to West Side Livery Stable because of his 4-digit hoof number.

Input into driver licensing by the Dept of Consumer Affairs – another joke

-- how about some laws that prohibit the drivers to refrain while driving from using their cell phones, turning around to take pictures, reading magazines and newspapers, standing up while driving, making u-turns on Central Park South, using their horse as a battering ram to negotiate traffic – and eating. That would go a long way into making the streets safer. And what about all those drivers who do not have a NYS Driver license?

The carriage trade is a small industry in NYC consisting of no more than 300 people, many of whom are part time. The Teamsters Union that represents them does so as a lobby group because they do not offer a real union shop to the drivers. While dues are collected, it is only to pay for the Teamsters’ time – it is not for medical or vacation benefits.

Real union members should be very upset about this.

For years, the City of New York has catered to this very small but politically connected industry. Shamrock Stable was renting a city owned site on W. 45th St. at a subsidized rate of $5,000 per month – real estate that on the open market went for $60,000. According to a New York Times article, they had been subsidized by the City for over 40 years. $55,000 per year times X number of years. Yes – that is a lot of money that could have gone toward education, senior centers or keeping the hospitals open.

Do other businesses fare so well with these kinds of deals? No they don’t. If they are not able to afford a location, they have to find one they can. Simple economics.

Why should this industry garner favors and be catered to over all the other small businesses – restaurants, clothing boutiques, food stores, coffee shops, restaurants – all those who have had to close their doors because they could not afford the rent.

So time will tell whether the City will once again cater to this small but privileged industry and give them what they want at taxpayer expense … for a cash only business.

* This is the direct link to the NY Times letter page if the embedded link does not work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/opinion/should-new-york-keep-its-carriage-horses.html?_r=1 


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photos show traffic on 9th Avenue and Columbus Circle; a deadly accident at 9th Avenue and 50th St. on 1/2/2006; Smoothie's death; Bobby's hoof number; driver using cell phone while driving

CARRIAGE HORSE DRIVERS USE HANDHELD CELL PHONES WHILE DRIVING CARRIAGES

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo is planning to introduce legislation to “penalize drivers who text, post on Twitter or otherwise distract themselves with handheld electronics while at the wheel” according to the the NY Times article Cuomo Seeks Tougher Laws for Texting While Driving, ***dated June 10, 2011.

According to the NY Times "The governor said he would propose upgrading so-called distracted driving from a secondary offense to a primary one, meaning that police officers could pull over drivers solely because they are spotted pecking away at their phones. "

This chart shows how other states deal with this issue. Most are actually stricter than NYS.

So what about NYC carriage drivers? They work on the streets in heavy traffic -- including Central Park South, Ninth Avenue, Times Square. They are guilty of not only using handheld cell phones while driving their carriages, but also reading newspapers and magazines and turning around to take pictures -- all while driving. A new law that was passed last year requires all new carriage drivers to have a NYS drivers’ license but it allowed those who do not have a license to be grand fathered in.

So there are still carriage drivers on the street who do not have a NYS drivers’ license. Last February, the Department of Health actually proposed new regulations that would prevent drivers from using cell phones and engaging in other distractions while driving. But oddly enough, they rescinded them.

Why?

Apparently the carriage drivers are above the law because they continue to engage in these kinds of infractions where, if they had an automobile, they would be fined. They also make U-turns on Central Park South in the middle of heavy traffic and the authorities look the other way.

It must be nice to have friends at City Hall.

So what is the problem here? Why are they still allowed to not pay attention while driving -- to engage in unsafe practices and get away with it?

They put everyone in danger - themselves, other cars, pedestrians - and of course, the horses.

*** -- if the NY Times link does not appear it is the fault of Google. If you want to read the article, please do a search. Sorry.