Several weeks after a taxi crashed into a Central Park horse carriage, injuring both the carriage driver and the tourists inside, advocates gathered on the steps of City Hall Wednesday to demand the city ban the industry.
Several weeks after a taxi crashed into a Central Park horse carriage, injuring both the carriage driver and the tourists inside, advocates gathered on the steps of City Hall Wednesday to demand the city ban the industry.
Members of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable And Safe Streets said the Department of Transportation should investigate the safety of the horse carriage industry and they dropped off 3,000 petitions to make their point.
"We feel they are ignoring the dangers that exist not only to these animals but to the residents and visitors of this great city," said Carly Marie Knudson of NYCLASS.
Advocates would like to see the carriages replaced with electric cars. They are currently working on a model, which they will unveil in September.
Supporters of the carriages say they are iconic.
"People enjoy going for a horse carriage ride. It's nostalgic, it's a piece of history, it's romantic," said Demos Demopoulos of Teamsters Local 553.
The City Council approved legislation last year regulating the industry, which included safety provisions for drivers and passengers.