New York
AP
—
Central Park’s iconic horse-drawn carriages will trot on, for now.
A proposal to ban the favored vacationer sights which were fixtures in Central Park for greater than 150 years didn’t clear a key New York City Council committee on Friday.
The council’s Committee on Health voted against sending the proposal to the total council for its consideration following a packed hearing.
The Transport Workers Union of America, which represents horse carriage employees, applauded the panel for standing up for his or her members.
“They are hardworking immigrants who take good care of their horses, and have consistently been attacked and slandered by monied interests who care nothing about animal welfare,” John Samuelsen, the union’s president, stated in an announcement.
But animal rights advocates who’ve lengthy called for ending the industry, derided the vote as a “sham” as they vowed to proceed their battle.
The debate over the favored vacationer draw was revived over the summer season when a carriage horse collapsed and died close to its stables, with movies and images of the animal’s physique in a metropolis avenue circulating extensively on-line.
Critics say carriage horses can get simply spooked on metropolis streets, resulting in accidents and accidents. They additionally say the horses are overworked and dwell in insufficient stables, and that their drivers flaunt metropolis rules, together with abandoning piles of horse manure.
“Horses have collapsed, even dropped dead on the streets recently. Multiple horses have had violent runaway spooking incidents, crashing into vehicles, sending New Yorkers to the hospital, and nearly trampling others,” New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS, stated in a Friday statement.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams stated metropolis lawmakers ignored the opinions of the “vast majority of New Yorkers” who need the business ended. The outgoing Democrat threw his support behind the proposed ban in latest months and issued an executive order stepping up enforcement of the business,
“It’s a shame that the City Council has once again refused to follow the will of our citizens, while simultaneously endangering pedestrians, drivers, and animals alike,” Adams stated in a statement.
The council’s Democratic management has lengthy resisted calls to carry a public listening to and vote on the proposal, which requires winding down the business as early as subsequent summer season.
Friday’s vote was as a substitute instigated by the invoice’s sponsor, who invoked a procedural rule to power a committee vote.
“This was one of the most undemocratic displays I have ever witnessed in the New York City Council,” Council Member Robert Holden, an outgoing Queens Democrat, stated in an announcement after his bid was denied. “The Council could not care less what New Yorkers think.”
Benjamin Fang-Estrada, a spokesperson for City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, advised Holden merely didn’t do the “legislative work of building support” amongst his colleagues.
“The Council recognizes that this is a difficult and emotional issue, and any path forward requires a sponsor bringing all parties together in a constructive way,” he stated in an emailed assertion.
The Central Park Conservancy, the influential nonprofit that manages the 843-acre park, additionally got here out in help of an business ban, citing its outsized influence on public security and street infrastructure within the more and more crowded park.