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Like most New Yorkers, I usually pay little attention to the horse-drawn carriages around Central Park.

It’s for first–time tourists to the Big Apple.

Although, sometimes, in the sweltering summers, when I see the horses pull their loads, I wonder if they are being treated humanely.

And then, every now and then, news of a horse collapsing and dying in the street, reinforces my feeling that maybe they are being overworked.

So, when Mayor Bill de Blasio stated that one of his first acts as mayor would be to abolish the horse-carriage trade, I thought that he must have serious concerns about the horses’ treatment.

But according to actor Liam Neeson, who has taken up the cause of the estimated three hundred families who will be put “on the breadline” if the decision to replace the carriages with electric antique cars goes ahead, it’s not about concern for the animals.

It’s about money, real estate, and power.

Via NY Post: All the pretty horses, starring Liam Neeson

….“I’m not someone who’s political,” says Neeson. “I just noticed all these celebrities on the other side — and no one speaking up for the boys.”

“The boys,” as he puts it, are the drivers, many of them transplanted Irishmen like himself, some of whom even grew up on farms and are stunned by the accusation they would treat their horses cruelly. These include Colm McKeever, a native of County Meath and a friend of more than two decades’ standing. The men met through their wives, back when McKeever’s wife, Fiona, served as midwife in the birth of the actor’s first son.

The two are up against a villain list right out of central casting — people banking on money, celebrity and political clout to get their way, fueled by an animal-rights movement which argues, somewhat disingenuously, the horses are inhumanely treated.

Today these forces also include two of the most powerful leaders in city politics. One is Bill de Blasio, who has vowed that banning the horses and their carriages would be among his first acts as mayor. Another is the new City Council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, who sponsored the original anti-carriage council measure back in 2010.

The politicians are in turn backed by real-estate interests that have played a leading part in the campaign against the horse and carriages. The drivers believe, not without reason, that some of these people have their eye on the primo West Side site where the stables now sit. “They must just be just salivating over it,” says Neeson….

The ironies here are legion, and Neeson alluded to one of them in a letter to the mayor he made public back in January, “I find it troubling, Mr. de Blasio, that your campaign promise was to fight for the common man and, yet, with the first stroke of your pen, you are willing to put 300 families on the breadline.”

Nor is Neeson buying the argument about cruelty. Central Park’s horses, he says, are among the most regulated animals in America, with regular vet checkups and five weeks annual vacation (“How many people get that much time off?” he asks). And he notes the mayor has declined an invitation to visit the stables….

Related:

Irish Central: Liam Neeson slams Mayor de Blasio over shutdown of carriage horses

NY Post: Eight lies ‘advocates’ told about carriage horses

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6 Comments | Leave a comment
  1. MACVEL says:

    Another case of a leader vowing to uphold the “little ones.” Screwing them is always what these liberators mean. But what to do about it?

  2. LJZumpano says:

    The horses of Central Park are the most well cared for and pampered residents of NYC – they even get vacations!!! and as of yet, have not been forced to suffer the indignity of Obamacare. Hopefully, the true reasons the mayor is calling for their mass slaughter will reach enough ears of the people and he will be shamed into backing off. But then, he is a liberal and they rarely feel shame.

  3. Pat_S says:

    Too bad the carriage operators aren’t Amish instead of Irish. Might have helped their argument.

    The “lies” the NY Post refuted may reflect an improved situation in 2014. Back in 2007 the first ever audit of the horse-drawn carriage trade by the comptroller’s office painted a different picture.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/nyregion/06horses.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&ref=nyregion

    Among other things the audit found lax vet care, infrequent inspections, health hazards, horses not provided enough water, overheating on hot asphalt, horses forced to stand in their own waste because of inadequate drainage. The bottom line according to then comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., “The agencies entrusted with the oversight have dropped the ball.” Mr. Thompson, who is no longer comptroller, supports the ban on horse-drawn carriages.

    The Humane Society which is in league with NYCLASS mentioned in the Post article, posted a video report in 2009. http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/carriage_horses/ According to that report, horses are worked in harsh weather conditions and in heavily congested traffic. While the rule is horses cannot work more than 9 hours a day, it is not always followed.

    The NYC horse-drawn carriage industry may have improved since 2007 and 2009. I am sure most operators treat their animals well. Animal rights activists, including the Humane Society, often take an extreme position. Nevertheless, I think it’s about time to get past the horse and buggy business. At the very least, keep it confined to Central Park. Real estate developers, tourists, Teamster Unionists and carriage operators have a say. I wish I knew what the horses think. Oh, Wilbur.

  4. Di Grace says:

    There are similar horse-drawn carriages in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario where our family visits in the summer. If a horse can look miserable, these poor animals do. I have wondered each time we saw them if they were being properly cared for. While I’m sorry for the people being put out of work, how can we justify mistreating the horses? By the way, if New York adopts the antique car tours there will be a need for drivers. Can’t some of the carriage drivers switch from carriages to cars? Just a thought.

  5. Isaac T says:

    There Is No Free Lunch.

    Well-intentioned people concerned for the welfare of the animals must accept that, as a consequence of the stand they are making, regular working people will be put out of a job (and onto the dole if, as is increasingly likely, they cannot get a new job in this jobless “recovery” of Obama’s). And the horses, with whose welfare they are concerned, will be put to death absent someone willing to bear the *cost* of caring for the animals *that will no longer be producing value to anyone*.

    Apologies if I sound utilitarian here, that is not my intent. In fact, my intent is the opposite, I want to stress that the costs to *people* are real and can make the difference between making the payment on a health insurance premium this month or not, especially in post-Obamacare America.

    I can’t see how you square the principle of “Don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff,” with “We really don’t like this particular thing and think it needs to go away,” in the case of horse-drawn carriages. I’m all for people organizing against this or that, not patronizing certain businesses and urging other people not to, and generally disapproving of things in a free society. But enlisting the police power of the government to hurt people and take their stuff (the carriage drivers will be out of their jobs and the horses will probably be killed) is wrong on its face.

  6. Di Grace says:

    Money, real estate, and power play into too. Situations like this are rarely black and white. Self-interest and mixed motives are part of politics.

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