Officials in New York City have reached a deal to reduce the number of horse-drawn carriage rides.
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The deal with the Teamsters union, which represents the drivers, would limit hansom cabs to the park beginning on June 1, City Council sources said.
“We look forward to working together on the final details of this legislation and getting this passed”, it added in a statement.
The group’s statement went on to say the deal “preserves the carriage trade at the expense of the horses and smells like a convenient real estate deal to us”.
Moving the horses into the Central Park won’t stop them from spooking and potentially harming themselves and others when they bolt.
The city is expected to pay for the new stable inside Central Park with taxpayer funds and parks advocates have concerns of the commercial stable being built inside a public park, the Times reported.
An agreement has been reach concerning carriage horses on Manhattan streets.
NY media report that the most likely location is an area near the park’s 86th Street Transverse.
Celebrities joined the fray, with pop star Miley Cyrus, Alec Baldwin and former Glee star Lea Michele describing the use of horses as cruel, while Liam Neeson defended the carriage drivers, saying they cared deeply about the welfare of their animals.
For the animal rights activists who have been working for many years to ban horse-drawn carriages from Manhattan, one of the most distressing aspects of this compromise is that the erection of a stable in the park could keep the industry afloat indefinitely. De Blasio received financial backing and campaign volunteers with his promise to get rid of the plushly appointed buggies “on day one”. “Putting the stables in Central Park, which may be illegal, is not going to relieve this and may just exacerbate it because all the abuses will now be within the park and not so noticeable”. The horses will also not be allowed to work for more than 9 hours in any given 24-hour period, starting December 1, according to the Associated Press. Once the stable is complete, all travel and operations will be in the park, the official said.
De Blasio did not specify which issues are still being discussed, but there has been no word yet on any plans for compensating the carriage drivers who will lose their jobs.
The number of licensed horses would drop from 180 to 110 by the end of the year.
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The horses will continue to share the road with motor vehicles in Central Park, where cars are permitted on the streets at certain times of the day.
