Said President Trump, quoted in "New York City Passes Horse Carriage Ban, Ending a Central Park Tradition/A passenger’s death in June became the impetus for the City Council to ban the practice, but the bill will likely face a court challenge before being implemented in 2028" (NYT).
I don't see the "political reasons." It seems as though the ban is precisely about the subject of the ban, the safety and ethics of using horses this way in New York City. Weighing the pros and cons produces a difference of opinion and one side had the power and therefore got its way. I see no basis for saying there was something "political" as if the real dispute was about something else.
Was it "a quintessential New York experience"? Yeah, it probably was. Best seen from a distance though. Did I ever do it? Yeah, once. In the 1970s. Not recommended.
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I did it once, as a teenager, and fell in love with the girl. And, happily, she with me. It was already well underway but the carriage ride put a fine gloss on the day. Very good if not great for several years.
If it will only save one life!
Meanwhile - Biden's mass-importation of millions of illegals - -- those illegals are killing US citizens on our roads at an alarming rate.
The dems? pppffffftt. Do. not. care.
'...one side had the power and therefore got its way...no basis for saying there was something "political".
Umm....
It's an experience one can still enjoy in such benighted places as Montréal, Québec, Vienna, Salzburg, Minneapolis, etc.
One death in 150 years is pretty good. The carriage driver is there to control the horses. DO NOT ask him to step down and take a photo of you.
This will be a real boon to NYC's rickshaw community.
Horses are just supposed to look pretty in a field. Everybody knows that. The Amish hardest hit.
When they say political, my guess is it is because of the long-held suspicion that the main effort behind this is developers who want the stables. It’s not about the health and safety of animals. It’s about real estate. And money,
I don't like the lazy solution of banning things just because there was a problem, sometimes an extremely rare one. Only resort to a ban if the problem can't be reasonably solved some other way, or even just accept the problem if it's very rare.
Imagine all the things we would have to live without if they were banned just because of an accident. You couldn't own a hammer or a pair of scissors.
It's political because politicians chose to go against the free market and close it down. Not too difficult to understand.
It is political. They want to force the carriage people to sell the employee-owned stables that sit on prime real estate on 11th Avenue and build high-rise buildings worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion. If they ban the horses, the carriage folks will have no revenue and won’t be able to afford the property taxes or the renovation costs to use the stables for something else.
I was in NYC a few days and saw that the horse-drawn carriages now have a great deal of competition from—human-powered bike/rickshaw contraptions whose drivers, based on what I could see, might more likely be Mamdani voters, i.e.they looked like immigrants. Far from being stately, clip-clopping rides, many of the rickshaws are festooned with blinking lights and sound systems blaring Abba tunes and other pop songs.
I was in NYC a few days and saw that the horse-drawn carriages now have a great deal of competition from—human-powered bike/rickshaw contraptions whose drivers, based on what I could see, might more likely be Mamdani voters, i.e.they looked like immigrants. Far from being stately, clip-clopping rides, many of the rickshaws are festooned with blinking lights and sound systems blaring Abba tunes and other pop songs.
Here is the classic Central Park carriage ride with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse from "The Band Wagon."
Professor? i realize that you're suffering from dementia;
but could you try to explain your statement that you:
"don't see the political reasons"
apparently, you are so far gone, that you no longer understand that EVERY THING that a government does, it for "political reasons"
i used to think that you were holding up pretty well;
it's sad to see you slipping so fast
"Meanwhile - Biden's mass-importation of millions of illegals - -- those illegals are killing US citizens on our roads at an alarming rate."
Nothing true in the sentence above. I can almost believe Trump is posting turdwords on this blog under another name.
...so the rest of us notice how everything Trump does is ‘political’ according to the left so this is just like that, only it’s trump reacting to the commies…
I can't give you a citation, but the local rumor is that a supporter of the mayor has a plan to develop the property currently housing the stables.
When you say it's for "political reasons," that means it's for reasons other than the ostensible reasons, the actual substance of the thing being regulated. Obviously, political power is being used to ban the activity, but the banning is not, for that alone, properly denounced as having been done for "political reasons."
I've seen the hansom cabs around Central Park in NYC. I never saw the draw. I'm always reminded of the episode of Seinfeld where Kramer was taking care of one of the horses and he fed it canned corn beef or something like that horses shouldn't eat. The horse got gassy and made it most unpleasant for Kramer's customers. Heh. Pretty funny stuff.
It's typical of the age we live in, to take the welfare of the animals so seriously that its considered cruel to have them pull a cab around the park. You can take your kids to the circus nowadays but those dancing elephants, horsemanship and lion tamer acts you loved so much as kid? Fuggedaboudit!
Visiting radio row was the NYC experience for me. They wiped it out to build the WTC and I never went back.
Uh, yeah, back again with a comment on a comment:
For Trump's criticism — "political reasons" — to mean something as a criticism, it must mean more than just political power was used. It must mean there is something was involved beyond thinking the carriages are bad.
When I said I "didn't see" the political reasons, I hadn't noticed this part, which some of the commenters above are seeing:
"Mr. Samuelsen reiterated his belief that Ms. Menin was using a “contrived public safety crisis” to cater to real estate interests eager to develop Manhattan parcels now occupied by horse stables. Ms. Menin has denied that accusation."
It's funny to see Trump objecting to that reason rather than celebrating a real estate development opportunity.
Shoot, I hit enter accidentally. Is there an edit function?
Anyway: "tcrosse said...
It's an experience one can still enjoy in such benighted places as Montréal, Québec, Vienna, Salzburg, Minneapolis, etc.
10/23/26, 10:15 AM"
One can still ride around downtown Sacramento and Capitol Park and maybe Old Sacamento in a hansom cab if you must. I'm not sure if it's year 'round or just in the hot summer months. Funny, when you live in a place you don't pay much attention to the tourist attractions. Check your local listings.
Do not feed the horses Beef-A-Reeno.
It was in a large Canadian city, and the carriage was drawn by *two* horses -- "eases the work-load". Asked the driver if I could drive for a bit. He said "What do you know about driving?" ... I said, "Give me a block, then you tell me."
Apparently he liked my quiet confidence, because he handed me the reins, which I worked for almost the entire trip. When in amazement he first said "You know horses!" I let him know that I learnt to drive a team at age 12 for seeding, light cultivation work, and with a four, even hauling sleighloads of cut timber over a frozen lake until at one point I could see the ice bending under the load until the horses we usually hauling "uphill" on the ice.
It had happened that my first job out of ag scool was ... managing a horse farm.
No objections. Horses have a predisposition to panic and run when startled.. This can happen in bucolic settings, but more often in traffic. It just recently happened with fatal consequences to an eighteen years tourist from India...........Horse or more particularly horseshit is intimately involved the architecture of NYC. All those brownstones with elegant balustrades were constructed so that gentry people could live above the horseshit which was everywhere. I understand that why people used to wear hats, dusters, long dresses etc. They didn't want to get horseshit in their hair or on their person.........I think the balustrades add an elegant touch to the streets so the impact of horseshit wasn't all bad.
So I checked. Sacto has horse drawn carriage rides but not the two wheeled hansom cabs. Still, if you want to ride around lovely Capitol Park or touristy Old Sac we got a ride for ya.
If the concern is the health and well-being of the horses, this can be addressed through additional oversight and regulations.
A healthy horse drawing a carriage isnt animal abuse.
"It is political. They want to force the carriage people to sell the employee-owned stables that sit on prime real estate on 11th Avenue and build high-rise buildings worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion. "
Yeah, although I'd label that "corruption" not politics.
"A healthy horse drawing a carriage isnt animal abuse."
There is a surprisingly large cohort of people consider every human/animal interaction abuse, and would sooner harness people to pull those carriages.
The "politics" is there are too many foreign born people and Democrat voters living in New York City now that can't be trusted around horses for a variety of reasons.
Pulling a carriage with people in it is actually a pretty posh job for a horse. You need to read more books with horses as the anthropomorphized protagonist.
If for no other reason, if democrats see that people are having fun, and no money is going to them, they will try to ban it out of pure meanness.
Banning the carriage rides/horses to eventually use the property to build a high-rise sounds to me just the usual shenanigans happening on a day ending in y.
I've always felt carriage rides were boring. It was more fun to ride horseback at a canter at the slowest. Open fields or long driveways at a wide-open gallop even more fun.
This was the political angle: "The bill’s passage was a major victory for animal-rights activists, who have waged a years-long campaign against the carriages." Nor is the 'safety' rationale persuasive. One freak accident became the excuse; it wasn't the reason. Bicycles and especially e-bikes are much more dangerous on City streets -- anyone living here is familiar with the entitled cretins riding them, dashing through red lights or weaving in and out of traffic, ignoring everyone else. The real reason to get rid of horse-drawn carriages is that they're a traffic hazard outside the Park and a nuisance in it. But in NYC that's not enough to get the City to take action, particularly in the face of strong transport union opposition. So, the City uses the fake excuse (safety) to satisfy the real constituency (animal-rights types) to reach a decision that's sensible for other reasons. Democracy, NYC-style.
Great story, Bart!
Yeah, it probably was.
In a city of millions? Not really. May I suggest dog carts as a replacement? That would be very NYC.
At its peak around 1900, Belgium alone had roughly 150,000 working draft dogs.
"I've always felt carriage rides were boring."
They're terrible.
I think we can all agree when things go our way it’s the Will of the People and when they don’t it’s Dirty Nekked Politics.
Montreal had horse drawn carriage rides up until 2020 it appears. Went on one when I was a kid. Appears the practice died out due to animal welfare laws.
New Yorkers are free to choose whether to keep or abandon the practice. Unfortunately, making the change brings out the nostalgia warriors who can't bear any change in their lifetime.
Saying that the horses should stay because I like them is non-political.
Saying the horses should stay because they help a constituent group is political.
“I see no basis for saying there was something "political" as if the real dispute was about something else.”
So you look, but do not see? To clarify, EVERYTHING Mamdani does is political.
This so-called "quintessential New York experience" was enjoyed by few given the outrageous price for the experience.
Of course there were discount/knockoff experiences, mostly notably Kramer guiding Rusty,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmhCTnU88e4
"Yeah, although I'd label that "corruption" not politics."
A distinction without a difference.
The decision is political because it was made by politicians to curry favor with "animal rights" groups and real estate interests. The former allege poor treatment of the horses, but I've yet to see any examples. Oh, and one accidental death in 150 years.
I suspect most of the horses will end up in the glue factory. As others have noted, bicycles have caused many more deaths and injuries than these carriages, while providing no employment or services other than to the riders themselves. Just a few weeks ago a pedestrian was killed by a bicyclist in the park. A week or two later a bicyclist at the same location in the park died after hitting a dog.
"It's funny to see Trump objecting to that reason rather than celebrating a real estate development opportunity."
An opportunity for someone else. Also, he might like the look of the horses being in the park for nostalgia reasons.
Mayor's tweet:
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺.
𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦.
Posted it on Facebook with my comment:
"Workers and owners protected! Yet, unemployed by city orders. And just, what, exactly, are they doing to make sure the horses are safe? Cost money to feed house, and exercise horses. The owners and workers are doing that now- and- PAYING TAXES!"
So- basically- he's lying in his statement and the media hasn't called him on it. His entire tweet is a lie.
I've been to Central Park over a hundred times. Never felt a desire to ride the carriages. A lot of people did. Until now, they had a choice. Now they don't. "FREEDOM!", democrat version thereof.
Period
From Chat GPT, a history of ban attempts:
1980s–1989
Animal-welfare campaigns pushed restrictions on working hours and routes. The council overrode Mayor Ed Koch’s veto in 1989, imposing restrictions rather than abolishing the industry.
2006–2007
A fatal horse accident helped spur renewed organizing. Councilman Tony Avella proposed an outright ban in 2007, but Mayor Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn opposed it.
2010
Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito proposed replacing horse carriages with electric vehicles. The proposal did not become law.
2013–2016
Bill de Blasio campaigned on ending the industry, then failed to secure council support. A compromise allowing carriages only in Central Park also collapsed in 2016.
2018
De Blasio achieved a narrower change: moving passenger pickup locations from Central Park South into the park.
Its a good thing no one has ever died from an automobile accident! Then they would have to be banned.
There was only 2 possible reasons for a driver to step away from the horse to take photos of passengers: either he imposed on them or they imposed on him.
I think most likely they urged him to do it and he complied, which he shouldn’t have done of course.
Just some horse history- from memory, not looking it up. Ever been to San Francisco? A city of hills. Over a hundred years ago a man saw a horse drawn conveyance slide down an icy hill and die, and determined to do something about it.
He didn't seek to ban horses- what a liberal would have done. He invented the cable car. To replace them. If you look at how they work, they're really an engineering marvel.
*Nothing true in the sentence above.*
Everything in that sentence is true.
I seem to recall that DiBlasio sought to put the carriages out of business, for the same "political" reason. Prime real estate.
Cookie apparently reads The Daily Worker and if it's not in there, it's not true.
Around 3,000 people were killed on 9/11 do we ban buildings and airplanes from new york city then? This is because of an islam libturd commie being in charge of the city. No other cause is the problem.
Thanks for letting me comment on your blog. Happy Halloween to you all out there in the either.
The carriages were actually pretty safe: one fatality in 100 years of operation. Banning them is nonsense. 200 operators and their families lose a source of income. The horses were loved by their owners and well taken care of (speaking as someone who knew an owner). But the Mayor and his minions cannot tolerate something that people and tourists enjoy. No, we can't have happy people hanging around Fifth Avenue and Central Park because, just because we don't like it.
Never noticed our hostess’s Grinchy side until this post
Illegal immigrants are killing New Yorkers, but theres no talk about getting rid of Sanctuary policies that shield them from being removed from the country before they kill anyone. But one death and suddenly a legal business gets banned?
Of course its political, Ann. Howe can you claim its not?
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