San Francisco Frontiers - Central Park horse-drawn carriages face ride into the sunset

Critics say the animals suffer, pointing to deadly collapses and dangerous escapes, while advocates point to the jobs they create and the heritage they uphold.

The rides, which cost $150 for 45 minutes to several hundred dollars for a marriage proposal (no refunds), are popular with visitors to the Big Apple's most famous natural attraction, which draws 42 million people annually.

Native New Yorkers however have been calling for the rides to banned "for so long," according to animal rights campaign group PETA's outreach director, Ashley Byrne.

The group leading the charge against tourist carriages, NYCLASS, was founded in 2008 and, in 2022, a survey found 71 percent of New York voters were against them.

Mayor Eric Adams recently weighed in on the emotive debate and called on the city council to rein in the practice as he cannot do so himself.

He also signed an order allowing for the voluntary surrender of carriage licenses and supporting the re-employment of the 170 people involved in the carriage trade while also hardening animal welfare and safety checks.

- Hurdles to reelection -

The summer season proved decisive in sounding the death knell for the Manhattan carriages, Byrne said.

"This has been a summer where the danger and cruelty of this industry has been on full public display. Between (carriage horse) Lady dropping dead in the streets, four different incidents -- that we know of -- of horses breaking loose, spooking and running wild," she said.

The Central Park Conservancy, which manages the US's most visited urban park, also threw its weight behind the calls for a ban.

"With visitation to the Park growing to record levels, we feel strongly that banning horse carriages has become a matter of public health and safety for Park visitors," Conservancy chief executive Elizabeth W. Smith wrote to city leaders.

One way to phase out the carriages would be for the city council to adopt legislation first proposed in 2022 by councillor Robert Holden, who applauded the mayor's intervention.

But the union representing carriage drivers says "developers have long sought to see the carriage-horse stables...vacated so they can build skyscrapers" and that Adams "has betrayed working class New Yorkers."

Carriage driver Christina Hansen added that "this is good work for horses" which number about 200 and benefit from comprehensive veterinary care and "are highly regulated."

Hansen says that the far greater threat to park users are the ubiquitous ebikes and escooters.

As early as 2007, a democratic city councilor unsuccessfully sought a ban after failing to garner support from powerful then-mayor Michael Bloomberg.

His successor Bill de Blasio campaigned on a ban -- but only managed regulation of the industry which bills itself as a custodian of New York's cultural heritage.

But Adams's window to abolish the carriages is closing -- New York goes to the polls on November 4 and polling suggests the sitting mayor is unlikely to clear the final fence.

D.Parker--SFF