Neigh-sayers stop bucking carriage deal

A DAY AFTER carriage drivers panned parts of his plan to move their industry inside Central Park, Mayor de Blasio’s animal-rights friends reversed course and said they now fully embrace the controversial compromise.

NYCLASS, which funneled nearly $1 million into the 2013 City Hall race to help elect de Blasio, released a statement Wednesday in support of the bill that outlines the mayor’s plan.

“After careful consideration of the legislation, we support its passage to help protect the carriage horses from traffic and cruelty,” NYCLASS said in a statement.

It comes a day after the group said the legislation “doesn’t go far enough” to protect animals.

NYCLASS said it would like the City Council to “tweak” the bill to bring in the horses during extreme weather, but are still urging legislators to pass it.

“The mayor and the speaker have stood up for horses, and we are ready to stand with them,” the statement read.

The Humane Society, the ASPCA, and the Rev. Al Sharpton — a close ally of the mayor’s — also said Wednesday they support the legislation, which would move the horses out of their stables on the West Side into Central Park.

City Councilman Rafael Espinal, the chair of the committee that oversees the carriage industry, said he still isn’t sold on the plan and might oppose it.

“I am happy the industry will remain in the city. (But) I firmly believe this conversation should have never started,” said Espinal.

The bill calls for downsizing the industry from 164 horses to 110 by the end of the year. That number will go down to 95 by 2018.