Horse-drawn win for Blaz

Mayor de Blasio scored a decisive victory in the horse carriage wars Thursday when a Manhattan judge ruled in favor of the city's plan to move them inside Central Park.

The controversial relocation is scheduled to begin Friday.

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron's decision came on the hooves of a lawsuit filed by hansom cab hack Giovanni Paliotta, who urged the court to stop the city from moving carriages off the streets — where they have traditionally picked up fares — into the park.

Paliotta's lawyer Angelo DiGangi argued that any new rules on the carriages should come from the City Council — a position the judge ultimately disagreed with.

“This case is not about animal welfare, nor is it about the income of the drivers; it is about power and authority, the power and authority to regulate the horse-drawn carriage trade in New York City,” Engoron wrote in his opinion. “The proposed rule properly exercises such authority.”

Animal rights activists — who failed in their attempts to push de Blasio into banning the carriages outright — praised the decision.

“This ruling is a victory for the more humane treatment of carriage horses,” said Edita Birnkrant, director of NYCLASS. “By shifting the hackline locations into the shaded entrances of Central Park, carriage horses will be subject to less heat and humidity throughout the summer and will no longer have to contend with cars and their exhaust traveling right next to them.”

A horse carriage company, Golden Soldiers Horse and Carriage, is pursuing a federal lawsuit also seeking to block the new pickup location from going into effect.