Report on Horse Drawn Carriage Legislation

Int. 573-2022

A LOCAL LAW to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the operation of horse drawn carriages and to replace the horse drawn carriage industry with a horseless electric carriage program, and to repeal sections 17-334.1, 19-174, subdivision c of section 20-374, sections 20-377, 20-377.1, 20-380, 20-381, 20-381.1, 20-381.2, 20-382 and subdivisions b, c, and d of section 20-383 of the administrative code of the city of New York, relating to the regulation of horses used in the operation of a horse drawn cab and horse drawn cabs.

Sponsors: Robert F. Holden, Erik D. Bottcher, Tiffany Cabán, Rita C. Joseph, Keith Powers, Christopher Marte, Joann Ariola, Shahana K. Hanif, Kristin Richardson Jordan, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Pierina Ana Sanchez, Rafael Salamanca, Jr., Sandy Nurse, Julie Won, Shekar Krishnan, Crystal Hudson, Lincoln Restler, Chi A. Ossé

THIS LEGISLATION IS APPROVED

I. BILL SUMMARY

The proposed legislation[1] would prohibit the operation of horse-drawn carriages, effective June 1, 2024. All licenses for the operation of a horse drawn carriage will expire on that date. Horse-drawn carriages would be replaced by low-speed, horseless electric carriages — an all-electric, zero emission, low speed vehicle driven by a licensed horseless electric carriage driver — providing trips within Central Park and certain areas of Manhattan. Within Central Park, speed of the cabs would be limited to 3 mph.

Under the legislation the City would establish a program, by June 1, 2023, to lease or sell the electric horseless carriages. The City would issue no more than 68 licenses for such vehicles. Priority for the lease or sale of electric horseless carriages would be given to former owners of horse-drawn carriage licenses. Former horse drawn carriage drivers would also be given priority for issuance of licenses under the new program. The City would establish a program for owners to pay carriage drivers a prevailing wage, to be set by the Comptroller.

II. JUSTIFICATION

Although various local laws govern carriage horses and carriage operation,[2] the current legal approach to the industry — regulation — does not adequately protect horses from the dangers inherent in pulling carriages in the urban environment of New York City. Winding down the use of carriage horses is the only way to meaningfully protect these animals.

Currently the City’s laws permit a horse carriage, a conveyance dating back to Ancient Mesopotamia,[3] to share the streets with cars, commercial trucks, double-decker buses, emergency vehicles, and countless other modes of transportation that make New York City one of the most congested places in the world.[4] Because the horses live in stables on Manhattan’s West Side while they operate in Central Park, working horses are effectively required to make a hazardous one-and-a-half mile trek, twice a day,  through city traffic. And, indeed, the commute is hazardous: although New York City has just 68 licensed carriages,[5] accidents and other incidents involving horses happen regularly. Some incidents involve direct collisions between horses and vehicles; others occur when the loud noises and quick movements endemic to midtown Manhattan “spook” horses into bolting. The attached Exhibit A lists several dozen incidents that have occurred since 2006, many of which resulted in injuries to people as well as horses.[6]

Traffic is not the only danger these horses face. For nine hours a day,[7] seven days a week,[8] a horse working in Central Park can pull a vehicle loaded with five adults (four passengers and a driver)[9] in temperatures as low as 18 degrees Fahrenheit and as high as 90 degrees Fahrenheit.[10] During their commutes to and from the park they are exposed to motor vehicle exhaust, a harmful irritant to a horse’s respiratory system.[11] Not surprisingly, even setting aside the dangers of traffic, several horses have collapsed while working.[12] Exhibit A again lists several incidents.

When horses are not pulling carriages, they live in conditions that fail to suit their needs. The horses are kept in multi-story buildings in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen,[13] a rapidly developing area of “high-rises and heavy traffic.”[14] Within these buildings horses can be housed in stalls as small as sixty square feet, with a minimum width of seven feet.[15] Stables need to provide only enough space for the horse to “turn around and safely lay down within the stall.”[16] The stables lack any pastures or paddocks,[17] so cannot provide horses with the daily “turnout” recommended by veterinarians as “crucial to [a] horse’s health and well-being.”[18] Instead, a horse’s only opportunity for turnout in a pasture or paddock is during the five weeks of annual furlough mandated by law.[19]

II. CONCLUSION

Attempts to regulate the carriage horse industry have not — and cannot — prevent accidents or eliminate the dangers inherent in their daily lives: traversing the congested streets of midtown Manhattan; pulling people and carriages every day; and living without daily turnout. This legislation, which would phase out the use of carriage horses in New York City, is the only way to meaningfully protect these animals.[20]

For these reasons the New York City Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee supports the proposed legislation.

Animal Law Committee
Rebecca Seltzer, Co-Chair
Robyn Hederman, Co-Chair

EXHIBIT A

Selected Incidents Involving New York City Horse-Drawn Carriages and Carriage Horses (2006 – Present) [21]

1. On November 18, 2022, an SUV struck a carriage and injured a horse on 58th Street near Ninth Avenue.[22]
2. On June 14, 2022, a spooked horse galloped into traffic and collided with two cars. Wedged between the cars, the horse suffered a gash in the leg.[23]
3. On August 10, 2022, an 87-degree day in New York City, a horse named Ryder collapsed in the middle of Ninth Avenue and 45th Street. The driver whipped the animal with reins and yelled “Get up! Get up!”[24] The horse was subsequently euthanized.[25]
4. On September 23, 2021, a horse collided with a car in midtown, on its first day pulling a carriage.[26]
5. On February 29, 2020 a 12-year-old mare named Aisha collapsed inside Central Park. She was euthanized a few hours later.[27]
6. On October 2, 2018, a carriage horse collapsed in the middle of 59th Street.[28]
7. On February 4, 2018, a horse spooked by an opening umbrella ran into two cars, injuring the carriage’s passengers.[29]
8. On February 21, 2017, a horse pulling a carriage collapsed inside Central Park.[30]
9. On October 14, 2016, a horse-drawn carriage and pedicab collided.[31]
10. On September 5, 2016 — at 2 a.m. — a 14-year-old horse collapsed in the middle of the street.[32]
11. On August 14, 2015, a carriage horse struck a teenage girl on a bicycle; the carriage then ran over her leg.[33]
12. On October 19, 2014, a carriage horse ran away from its handlers up Eleventh Avenue until he was corralled by police.[34]
13. On June 9, 2014, a carriage horse escaped from a driver and ran from 59th Street into Central Park before crashing into a taxi.[35]
14. On April 23, 2014, a carriage horse overturned his carriage, causing the carriage to collapse on the horse.[36]
15. In March 2014, a Freedom of Information Law request revealed that a carriage driver was accused of altering the hoof brand of his 22-year-old ailing horse, so that regulators would believe the horse to be a younger, healthier horse.[37]
16. On December 18, 2013, a carriage driver was arrested for animal cruelty. According to the arresting officer, the driver had forced the horse to work for five hours, despite visible injuries and walking difficulties.[38]
17. On September 26, 2013, a horse bolted through Columbus Circle, sideswiped a car, and overturned its carriage. The horse was pinned under the carriage and eventually freed by a group of bystanders.[39]
18. On August 16, 2012, a carriage horse spooked by traffic broke free from a carriage and crashed into a parked car in Columbus Circle during rush hour before collapsing in the street, causing the carriage passengers and driver to “spill[] into the street” and sustain injuries to their legs, face and feet.[40]
19. On December 4, 2011, a carriage horse pulling a carriage with three adults and a child collapsed at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue.[41]
20. On November 4, 2011, a carriage horse collapsed on West 60th Street near Broadway during rush hour.[42]
21. In October 2011, a horse collapsed and died as it left its stable for a day of work. According to the director of equine services for the ASPCA’s Humane Law Enforcement department, the horse was “not healthy for a career in an urban carriage horse business.”[43]
22. On July 25, 2011, a taxi hit a horse-drawn carriage on Central Park South, injuring the driver, three passengers, and the horse. The buggy flipped to the side and one of the passengers was thrown to the sidewalk.[44]
23. On November 3, 2010, a bus grazed a carriage horse on Seventh Avenue near 54th Street, spooking the horse.[45]
24. On May 11, 2010, a horse carriage collided with a taxi in Central Park.[46]
25. On May 1, 2010, a spooked carriage horse ran into oncoming traffic at Central Park South and Columbus Circle, sideswiping several cars before crashing.[47]
26. On September 19, 2009, a taxi riding south on Fifth Avenue turned into Central Park and collided with a carriage and horse.[48]
27. On September 14, 2007, a spooked horse ran onto the sidewalk and, hitched to its carriage, was trapped between two poles. Struggling to free itself, the horse collapsed to the ground and died. Another horse startled by the incident ran into traffic and crashed into a car.[49]
28. On July 4, 2007, a spooked horse flipped over his carriage and collided with a taxi on Central Park South. A motorcyclist was also hit. One person was hospitalized and the horse suffered several gashes on its right hind leg.[50]
29. On April 28, 2006, a spooked horse ran into a 71-year-old bicyclist at 64th Street and Central Drive. The bicyclist and carriage driver were both hospitalized.[51]
30. On January 2, 2006, a spooked horse galloped down a street and crashed into a car at West 50th Street and Ninth Avenue.[52] The carriage driver was thrown from the carriage and was hospitalized in a coma. The horse broke his leg and was euthanized.[53]