De Blasio To Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

I can already hear the outrage!

"We are going to get rid of the horse carriages. Period," de Blasio said in response to a question at his press conference announcing his schools chancellor pick Monday. "It's over," he said. De Blasio said he would work with existing drivers to set them up with alternative vehicles to ferry tourists around Central Park. De Blasio and advocacy groups who support him say it's inhumane to make the horses work the dangerous city streets, but drivers insist their horses are well cared for and there's no reason to end the industry."

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/12/bill-de-blasio-on-horse-drawn-carriage-industry-its-over

---

Updated On: 12/30/13 at 08:27 PM

Glad about this too.

---

If the carriages are banned, all those horses will end up at the glue factory I am sure they would rather keep working.

Ex-Siny, the horses currently working may be put down, and that is tragic. But there's a great deal of evidence that their lives are comparably tragic. I know they're considered picturesque and part of the NYC tourist experience, but so much I've read indicates that it's a horrible life the horses live.

Maybe better oversight and/or stricter laws (or enforcement) could be the answer. But failing that, I'd support the ban.

Horses are not meant to be plodding along pulling tons of weight on city streets. sorry.

If those that are currently working need to be put down, then that will end their misery and pain.

---

I agree about too-large dogs in too-small spaces. That goes for any animal, in fact.

"No, horses haven't always pulled carriages"

What do you think pulled carriages before the steam engine? Chinamen?

---

This is a no brainer. It's not like you're shutting down a major industry.. It's a niche market in an environment that is not even ideal for that niche market. This should have been done years ago.

"Yes, I know it's a tradition and whatnot, but Goth can you honestly say any of those horses have a life worth living?"

A couple of points:

1. de Blasio's first order of business is to ban something? We've had 12 years of Bloomberg banning things. The least he could do is announce something positive that all New Yorkers could use.

2. Banning horse drawn carriages cuts into the tourist trade. New York can't afford to mess with the tourist trade because it's one of the few things that brings revenue to the city.

3. As I've already mentioned, the much worse problem is people with dogs. They shove them in tiny crates and carry them on the subway. They let them poop all over the sidewalk. And they leave them all day long in hot apartments, unattended.

---

There is PLENTY for tourists here to do other than ride in horse-drawn carriages. If anything, the Guliani/Bloomberg era was much too tourist-obsessed. In a sense, this is a positive move.

Your third point is completely bizarre and incomprehensible.

---

2. It is NOT a major component of the "tourist trade." That industry brings in only $15 million a year. Nice try.

3. This has nothing to do with the issue and should be viewed as a completely separate topic to discuss/debate. Big dogs in small apartments have no connection to the mistreatment of carriage horses.

"2. It is NOT a major component of the "tourist trade." That industry brings in only $15 million a year. Nice try."

And who do you think is going to make up that 15 million in revenue? Hope you enjoy your taxes being raised.

---

You guys, it's better with the block feature.

---