Activists harassing carriage patrons
Animal-rights activists have stepped up their war on Central Park’s horse-drawn-carriage industry by riding alongside carriages and pressuring tourists to ditch the buggies for an electric car.
A video posted online shows a recent incident in which the activists convinced a Michigan couple to abandon their carriage ride shortly after it started.
“This is such a cruel industry. Our mayor’s trying to ban it,” activist Edita Birnkrant, formerly of Friends of Animals NYC, is seen saying in the clip. “We’re hoping you’ll get out and take this [electric vehicle] instead of supporting animal abuse.”
The activists have been driving around in what they describe as an “eco-friendly vintage car” — the same prototype that was pitched by Mayor Bill de Blasio and the animal-rights group NYCLASS as a replacement for the carriage horses.
The video shows that the activists encouraged the couple not pay the carriage driver because they “don’t have to.” But the tourists do pay the driver.
Birnkrant said the activists also won over a Texas couple two weeks ago and the man, who was preparing to propose to his girlfriend, did so in the electric car.
The mayor has been trying to boot the carriages from Central Park after his 2013 campaign benefited from millions in donations from animal-rights activists.
Horse-carriage drivers say the new tactic started in August but that it’s illegal because the electric car has commercial plates, which means it can’t pick up passengers or be driven inside Central Park.
“There’s this half-million-dollar custom car that they’re driving around for no other purpose than to harass us,” said driver and carriage industry spokeswoman Christina Hansen. “They’re accosting people already in carriages and saying, ‘Get out of the carriage.’ ”
Birnkrant insisted all permits and licenses are in order, and dismissed the industry’s accusations of harassment.
She said the activists are merely educating tourists about an industry that many of them know nothing about.
“This is a tactic we have every right to do and we’ll continue to do and we’re having success — which is why they’re getting so upset about it,” she told The Post.
De Blasio’s spokesman condemned the practice.
“The mayor remains committed to removing horse carriages from city streets. We disagree with these tactics,” said City Hall spokesman Austin Finan.
Shown the clip, Parks Department officials said there were two potential violations: using a megaphone without a permit, and driving a commercial vehicle inside the park.
The officials also said they were “looking into the matter.”
A Police Department spokesman said the Central Park Precinct is aware of the issue and working to address it.