Little clop of horror
Blaz horse ‘deal’ seen in trouble in Council
THE CITY COUNCIL seems ready to buck Mayor de Blasio’s controversial plan to downsize the city’s horse and carriage trade and move it inside Central Park.
Skeptical lawmakers grilled top de Blasio officials for over two hours Friday at a hearing on the bill that would reduce and uproot the industry. Many on the Council grew frustrated, demanding more details.
Members of the administration — including the mayor’s director of operations Mindy Tarlow — couldn’t tell the Council how much a new stable would cost, its exact location, and how many jobs were at stake.
“I think what you’re asking us to buy is an empty bag with a hole in it,” said City Councilman Barry Grodenchik, a Queens Democrat.
City Councilman Costas Constantinides said it was unfair to ask them to consider legislation with so little information.
“There are too many questions and not enough answers,” he said.
Tarlow, who kept her cool under the often hostile questioning, said answers were few because the legislative process was just beginning.
She was also hammered on the city’s decision to ban pedicab rides south of 85th St. in Central Park, an element folded into the plan to move the horses.
Even City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, an ally of de Blasio’s and a co-sponsor of the carriage bill, expressed sympathy for the pedicab drivers, who say their business will be ruined if huge swaths of the park are closed to them.
The administration had to “make sure we had the most balanced working environment for everyone,” said Tarlow.
But she was forced to concede that the city — which paid $2 million for a congestion study ahead of legislation on app services like Uber — hadn’t studied the impact of pedicabs on traffic. A study was in the works, she said.
Tarlow hinted that a compromise might be possible, saying “We think we struck the right balance, but we are here to listen.”
She got an earful. Several carriage drivers testified against parts of the bill, including a provision that would require the industry to downsize from around 170 horses to 110 by the end of this year.
But the city has until October 2018 to build the new stables it has promised for inside the park. In one of the more colorful moments of the day, a Northern Cheyenne Indian chief sporting an eagle-feather “peace bonnet,” and his Oglala Sioux wife testified they had spent time in Central Park and could sense the horses are well treated and should be left alone.
“We know . . . they (the drivers) love their horses and they take good care of them,” said Lynette Two Bull, who flew from Montana with her husband Chief Phillip Whiteman to testify.
Although the administration said it was unclear how many jobs would be lost with the changes, a Teamster official testified he expected about 40 to 50 jobs would disappear if the bill went through as is.
Demos Demopoulos, the union’s secretary-treasurer, expressed reservations about the bill, but said it might be the best deal they could get.
De Blasio, who benefited heavily from nearly $1 million in donations that the animal rights group NYCLASS funneled into the 2013 mayor’s race, had promised to ban the business outright during the campaign.
Without support in the Council, he dropped his plan for a full ban, turning instead to an attempt at downsizing and the move into the park.
I think what you’re asking us to buy is an empty bag with a hole in it. CITY COUNCILMAN BARRY GRODENCHIK