We say neigh to horse carriages

Manhattan: Thank you for publishing Elizabeth Forel’s Op-Ed about New York’s dangerous and anachronistic carriage trade (“Stop horsing around and ban carriages,” Feb. 3). I support an outright ban. Meanwhile, what good are laws that aren’t enforced? Anytime I’m near the hack line, I see at least one carriage with a whitewashed license plate (arguably to be able to make U-turns without legal consequences). Yet carriage drivers need not worry about being ticketed, because they are allowed to break laws with impunity and to operate recklessly.

It’s not surprising that a serious accident happened hours after this opinion piece was published. Barcelona banned carriages. When will New York do the same? Alice C. Ruth Darien, Conn.: Horses are not taxicabs. Friends of Animals agrees with Elizabeth Forel’s piece, which appeared a day before an alarming carriage horse accident occurred inside Central Park.

A horse spooked when a passerby opened an umbrella, sending the horse fleeing out of the park and into traffic with his driverless carriage and three frightened passengers. Eventually, they collided with two parked cars.

The accident had nothing to do with law enforcement. You can’t regulate the industry in one of the most traffic-congested cities in the world. Horses should never be put in a position where they become unwitting weapons.

The time has arrived for the City Council to shut down this dangerous, inhumane industry. Priscilla Feral

A wretched existence

West Warren, Mass.: Elizabeth Forel wrote a very enlightening Op-Ed! I have often visited New York and, being a horse owner, was always attracted to the carriages until I looked into the eyes of the horses. I was immediately saddened by their eyes. There is no disguising a look of hopelessness. Kudos to you for printing this and kudos to Forel for bringing awareness to this wretched existence for these horses.

Victoria Berry

More horse-banning bull

Staten Island: Elizabeth Forel, an anti-horse-carriage advocate, highlighted the fact that Barcelona is banning horse-drawn carriages. So, is Barcelona going to ban bullfighting and the running of the bulls, which is a far greater abuse of animals?

Lawrence A. Natale

Using accidents as an excuse

Nogent-le-Rotrou, France: I have followed closely the ongoing controversy about carriage horses in New York City and elsewhere. With regard to the recent accident in which a horse was spooked by someone opening an umbrella in front of its face and the subsequent injuries, the facts are the facts and the horse spooked. My objection, however, is the hysterical tone with which such accidents are reported when no such thing seems to happen when a person or another car causes an accident. Accidents are what they are, accidents. They are not the norm, and they are not predictable. Accidents are caused each and every day, in New York City and elsewhere, by pedestrians and car drivers who don’t pay attention. Why are these not plastered all over social media each and every time they happen? More important, why is it that a newspaper that reports facts and not public hysteria allows itself to be drawn into this ridiculous game? Accidents involving horses are so much rarer than accidents caused by pedestrians or other cars. Their rarity perhaps makes them into news? You might want to mention that next time.

Virginia Kouyoumdjian

Don’t blame the industry

Chattahoochee Hills, Ga.: As a longtime horse owner, it always amazes me that no matter what causes the incident, whether it’s a simple matter of a horse tripping or stumbling, which happens to horses all over the world, or, as in this recent case, a horse being frightened by an individual opening and closing an umbrella in his face while screaming, the anti-carriage protesters always blame the horse and driver merely for being there. Common sense would dictate that if you truly cared about the welfare of the horse, you’d advocate for people not attempting to frighten them, to be considerate of their welfare. Instead, they advocate for banning the horse. What if he had done that to someone on a bicycle and they had swerved into traffic to avoid him, thus causing an accident — would they demand that bicycles be banned? True, you can’t fix stupid, and people will always do stupid things. But you can’t appease the stupid by removing anything that they might cause damage to with their stupidity. Don’t punish the horses by removing them from the care they receive under the strictest equine regulations in the country just because someone managed to frighten one with an umbrella.

Viki Datin

Get rid of them

Manhattan: I agree with Elizabeth Forel. It’s time to get rid of this phony “iconic” industry. Horses and their careless drivers do not belong on city streets. I have seen many carriage horses making left turns onto W. 60th St. from Broadway, and also from W. 60th St. onto Columbus Ave. when they have a red light. It happens daily in the late evening, when horses are returning to their horrid stables. I have also seen a horse-drawn carriage on the West Side Highway during the evening rush hour. These intersections and roads are crowded and no horses belong there. These horses need green, livable space in which to frolic, not exhaust-filled city streets that are crowded. Eva Podietz

Dumb Democrats

Beechhurst: Errol Louis tells it like it is when he argues that the Democrats “could end up losing another election cycle” if they continue to mock and downplay the monetary benefits accruing to working-class Americans from the Trump tax cuts (“Democrats need better cents,” column, Feb. 6). Nancy Pelosi put her silver slipper in her mouth when she called these gains “crumbs.” That’s very easy for a multimillionaire who lives in a giant mansion in a gated community to say.

James Hyland

Social in-security?

Staten Island: Errol Louis writes that the GOP tax cuts will threaten Social Security and Medicare down the road through less government tax funding. How so, when these two programs are separately funded through their own payroll deductions? Unless he’s admitting government wastes our tax dollars, this is a sad scare tactic. Mike Calabria

Who’s un-American?

Staten Island: I find it ironic that, for President Trump and others who agree with him, the lack of applause during the State of the Union address is a treasonable offense. It wasn’t treason when the Republicans were the first to do it during President Obama’s SOTU addresses. This is what is called selective memory.

Gloria Smith

Respect greatness

Yonkers: Manish Mehta’s testimonial regarding Tom Brady was rather fulsome, and even a tad ridiculous (“Where’s the love for Tom?” Feb. 5). However, on the playing field, Brady is without peer, as his performance has been consistently excellent for almost two decades. Never in New York has an athlete been so reviled for his stellar athletic accomplishments. Jealousy is a terrible disease. Just get over it, and be honored to have witnessed the greatest quarterback of all time. Cousin Tom deserves to have his accomplishments rightfully acknowledged if not greatly admired. Frank Brady

Philly fan-atics

Ozone Park: I don’t understand Philadelphia Eagles fans. They turn a joyous occasion of their team winning the Super Bowl into a disastrous celebration, wrecking their own city. Cars overturned, fires, breaking windows, people getting hurt is not the way to celebrate a happy occasion. But you can’t expect too much from Philly fans who once booed Santa Claus. We New Yorkers are better than that.

Mike Colasanti

Pay? No way

RICHARD HARBUS Atlanta: You’ve got to be kidding yourselves with this new “paid” access to NYDailyNews.com. I live in Atlanta and religiously come to this site on a daily basis. Why would I pay for news that I can get free if I dig hard enough? There are other sites similar to yours that we could all use to get the information that you would like to charge us for. Don’t be greedy and lose your fan base. Please rethink this. I really love the website and it saddens me that I’ll have to leave it in the past. A sad, sad day. Dorian Crawford