Late Sunday night, news broke that Mayor de Blasio had hammered out an agreement with the Horse Carriage operators that would keep many of them in NYC. As the details have begun to unfold, so has the outrage.
Under the proposal, the number of horses will reduce from approximately 200 to 95 at maximum. Up to seventy-five will be housed in a “new” stable to be built in Central Park (a Scenic Landmark) and the remaining 20 will have be be maintained outside of city limits. While hours of operation will shift one thing remains certain, this is a transfer of the public park space to private industry. Further, the New York Times reports that this will use $25 million in tax payer dollars.
The end-game, as has been widely reported is to free up the existing horse stables on the far west side for residential development. This is a quite literal form of political horse trading.
Join us for a PRESS CONFERENCE on Thursday, January 21st at City Hall and again for the City Council Transpiration Committee Meeting on this legislation on Friday, January 22nd, also at City Hall.
Read the full LANDMARK WEST! Press Release HERE.