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NYC Banwagon Set To Put Carriage Horses Out To Pasture

Now that Broadway is back in business, the New York City Council is looking for a new way to hobble city tourism.

Today, Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens), flanked by animal rights activists, announced that on Wednesday he will introduce legislation to ban horse-drawn carriages.

AVELLA: We've grown up as a society and the mistreatment of animals and the abuse of animals cannot be tolerated in any way, shape or form. The only legitimate way to end this abuse is to put the industry out to pasture."

New York's century-old Hansom cab industry is an iconic (if pungent) fixture on Central Park South and employs nearly 300 drivers, but when a horse died three months ago after being spooked by street drummers and running amok, the animalists went into overdrive.

The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages (along with PETA, Friends of Animals, the League of Humane Voters, and Rational-Animal) joined Avella today at City Hall to support the ban.

For his part, Councilman Avella has designs on Gracie Mansion in 2009, when he'll be term limited out of the Council.  He's running on the ever popular anti-development platform, despite having raised significant campaign cash from realtors and developers, including Trump-affiliated Bayrock/Sapir.

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NYC Banwagon Set To Put Carriage Horses Out To Pasture

Now that Broadway is back in business, the New York City Council is looking for a new way to hobble city tourism.

Today, Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens), flanked by animal rights activists, announced that on Wednesday he will introduce legislation to ban horse-drawn carriages.

AVELLA: We've grown up as a society and the mistreatment of animals and the abuse of animals cannot be tolerated in any way, shape or form. The only legitimate way to end this abuse is to put the industry out to pasture."

New York's century-old Hansom cab industry is an iconic (if pungent) fixture on Central Park South and employs nearly 300 drivers, but when a horse died three months ago after being spooked by street drummers and running amok, the animalists went into overdrive.

The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages (along with PETA, Friends of Animals, the League of Humane Voters, and Rational-Animal) joined Avella today at City Hall to support the ban.

For his part, Councilman Avella has designs on Gracie Mansion in 2009, when he'll be term limited out of the Council.  He's running on the ever popular anti-development platform, despite having raised significant campaign cash from realtors and developers, including Trump-affiliated Bayrock/Sapir.