Horse Trading



A long contemplated New York City ban on carriage horses returned to center stage Tuesday, following news of a proposed city council bill.  A proposed bill is expected next week, with committee hearings and a vote expected over the next several months.  Mayor de Blasio has been a strong advocate of such a ban, calling for an immediate ban as a mayoral candidate, although he’s not acted to implement such a ban during his 11 months in office.

Mayor de Blasio Comments:

Mayor de Blasio was asked about the expected bill three times during an unrelated press conference on Tuesday.  Questions included what he plans to do to get the bill passed, a ban’s likely effect on tourism in the City and whether he intends to engage in any political “horse trading” to win passage of the bill.

NYCLASS Rally:

NYCLASS, a politically active organization dedicated to eliminating the carriage horse industry in New York City, held a rally on the steps of City Hall Tuesday afternoon.  About 40 people attended on a cold and rainy December afternoon, joined by Council members Danny Dromm, Ydanis Rodriguez and Mark Levine and Assembly member Linda Rosenthal.  Passage of the proposed ban is far from certain as the Daily News reports that while 13 City Council members support the ban, 11 oppose it, 25 are undecided and 2 did not disclose any position.

Here is the Q&A portion of their rally:

Here are the statements of the attending elected officials:

Mayor de Blasio & NYCLASS:

Mayor de Blasio returned to City Hall shortly before the scheduled start of the NYCLASS rally and greeted some early arriving rally attendees as he passed through City Hall plaza: