IT’S MR. MA-ZOO
Unlikely warrior for horses, geese & others
THE MAN WHO spearheaded the drive to ban horse-drawn carriages is a polarizing figure — lionized by animal rights activists and damned by carriage drivers as Public Enemy No.1.
Steve Nislick, a 70-year-old parking garage magnate who loves horses, is an unlikely activist. But his organization, New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), is now a political player and is branching out to advocate on issues ranging from installing sprinklers in pet stores to banning foiegras.
The liver delicacy, already banned in California, is a product of animal cruelty, activists say.
“They take funnels and force it down the goose’s throat and force-feed them until their livers are about to explode,” said Allie Feldman, executive director of NYCLASS. “It's heartbreaking to know these animals are trapped in cages overnight and if there’s a fire there’s nothing they can do but sit and wait to die.”
The new pet causes, which Nislick outlined in a letter to supporters in January, will also include ending the use of animals in circuses and protecting tenants’ right to have pets. It’s an agenda that would have seemed far-fetched just a few years ago, when animal rights activists were far outside the political mainstream.
Nislick, the wealthy former CEO of Edison Properties — which owns garages, self-storage facilities and oth- er real estate — founded NYCLASS in 2008 in response to the sight of horses pulling carriages outside the Central Park West building wherehe lives with his wife. He soond ove into city politics. Nislick, who declined to be interviewed for this story, sank $174,000 into the 2013 election — including $81,250 to the political action committee NYC Is Not for Sale, which ran attack ads that helped bring down one-time mayoral front-runner Christine Quinn, and $65,000 to NYCLASS’ own independent spending effort. He also gave the maximum $4,950 contribution to Mayor de Blasio.
Three years ago, Nislick was raising money for Quinn, saying he could persuade her to support a carriage ban. Their relationship soured when a secretly recorded conversation became public in which he said about Quinn: “She sees this money and she sees these votes. That’s all she needs to see.”
Quinn didn’t budge on the carriage ban, and the attack campaign soon followed.
Nislick’s role in taking down Quinn makes him a hero to animal rights supporters.
“Nobody ever thought of us as people who could take down a mayoral front-runner,” said Feldman.
The carriage drivers have long speculated that Nislick’s real interest is in grabbing the far West Side land where their stables sit, a charge he has denied.
Allies say Nislick, who has four horses of his own, including a rescued carriage horse, has become such a lightning rod only because he’s effective.
“He’s not in this to make friends. He’s in this to help animals,” said ASPCA President Matt Bershadker.