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In the highly charged effort to ban horse-drawn carriages from the streets of NYC, activists can rarely anticipate the unseemly events that lurk around the corner  – from false accusations by elected officials and hostile media outlets to physical and verbal attacks by carriage operators. What they can – and are – doing, however, is moving mountains to help pass the Mayor’s historic bill to ban the city’s inhumane, unsafe and archaic horse-drawn carriage trade.

Following are some of the most compelling tactics being employed by NYCLASS, the animal rights group leading the lobbying effort, and the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, which started the movement in 2006.

1. TV Commercial: With the help of a pro-animal TV production company, NYCLASS created a commercial that has aired and will air again on local television in the months leading up to a vote.

2. Postcard Campaign: The NY Observer reports that NYCLASS “is turning up the heat on lawmakers by mailing graphic postcards to all 51 Council Members every day until the carriage-banning legislation is passed.” Each of the 7,000 postcards is signed by a NYC voter and will be sent to his or her Council Member.

One of many postcards being sent by NYCLASS to NYC lawmakers

3. Subway ads: In February, the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages is rolling out this provocative ad campaign in NYC subway stations. Since 2007, the Coalition, which is the go-to group for information about the issue, has been staging regular protests against the industry and producing a weekly newsletter sent to advocates around the world.

Subway ad campaign

4. An army of activists: Hundreds of NYC voters feel passionately enough about the plight of the horses to dedicate their free time to educating voters in the streets and lobbying lawmakers at City Hall. This week, activists with NYCLASS conducting outreach in front of the offices of two “undecided” NYC Council Members were unexpectedly invited inside to make their case for a ban.

Councilmember unexpectedly invites picketers in for meeting

Luckily, the activists were not carrying the dead horse replica that they sometimes use to attract attention in neighborhoods where local Council Members opposes the ban.

City Hall in Manhattan (Photo: NYCLASS)

NYCLASS and The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages are leading the fight locally, but they are not working alone. Representatives from national advocacy groups, including PETA, HSUS, FOA, the ASPCA and Last Chance for Animals, are also lobbying Council Members and/or running educational campaigns.

Since 2008, PETA has also lent major star power to the effort, rolling out billboards and videos with pro-animal celebrities like Pink, Lea Michele, Kathy Najimy and Kristen Johnston.

PETA billboard in Times Square

Actress Kristen Johnston

To date, the majority of Council Members have not publicly stated whether they plan to vote in favor of or against the horse-drawn carriage ban. Like most politicians, they will make their decision based on political expedience — not on the merits of the issue. In the unlikely event that the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages is voted down, it won’t be for a lack of effort by the advocacy community. But perish the thought!

1. If you live in NYC, please join NY-CLASS in its efforts to rally support among lawmakers for the Mayor’s bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. If you live elsewhere, please sign their petition.

2. To learn more about the issue and keep apprised of news, subscribe to the weekly newsletter of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages.

3. Watch the award-winning documentary film BLINDERS to see why people have been fighting for years to take the horses out of NYC:

It’s official. After a nine year campaign by grass roots advocacy groups, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has introduced a bill to ban horse-drawn carriages from the streets of NYC.

All of the advocacy groups rallied at City Hall in support of the bill

Unfortunately, NYC’s pro-carriage newspapers have not only lied about the Mayor’s motives, claiming that he’s merely re-paying a campaign donor who wants to buy the stables, but they have also largely failed to provide fair balance. If the media shared this information, then elected officials and members of the public would at least have the chance to make an informed decision about whether or not to support the Mayor’s bill.

Horses are flight animals who sometimes flee when spooked by sirens, potholes, bright colors or other stimuli. The blinders, which partially restrict their vision, aren’t foolproof. Over the years, spooked carriage horses, who become weapons when running frantically down a busy street, have caused many tragic accidents. It was the 2006 death of Spotty, a carriage horse who galloped down Ninth Avenue and crashed into a car, that triggered the current movement to ban horse-drawn carriages.

Spotty died after spooking and crashing into a moving car.

Horses are grazing animals, but New York City has no pasture. The horses are either confined to their stalls or between the shafts of their carriages, burdened by equipment. Denying the horses the chance to graze and move around unencumbered each day is inhumane. As herd animals, horses should also have the opportunity to interact physically. Without a pasture for daily turnout, the horses are unable to fulfill their most basic instincts.

NYC’s dangerous streets are no substitute for a pasture

Horses live in multi-story firetraps. Most of the carriage horses are kept in stalls on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors of four stables on the far West Side of Manhattan. If a fire broke out in one of these buildings, in which highly flammable hay is stored, the panicked horses would be unable to escape down the narrow ramps, assuming someone opened their stalls one-by-one to let them out. In 2011, NYC’s Department of Health recommended that the City prohibit new stables from having stalls above the ground floor, but that change, if implemented, would have done nothing to help horses trapped in the current stables.

One of four stables in midtown Manhattan

Working in the streets with aggressive taxi drivers, ambulances and other motor vehicles is dangerous and unhealthy. Over time, ingesting car exhaust during their “nose-to-tailpipe” workday can cause respiratory disease, and the hard pavement can cause lameness. In December 2013, a horse-drawn carriage driver was charged with animal cruelty for working a lame horse.

Manhattan

Horse-drawn carriages jeopardize the safety and quality of life of people. Slow-moving contraptions add to traffic congestion; increase the response times of emergency vehicles; and cause accidents. Pedestrians, bicyclists and passengers in motor vehicles have been injured in horse-drawn carriage crashes, as have customers who ride in these open buggies with no seat belts or helmets. Finally, horse manure contaminates the streets and leaves a stench in and around Central Park, where people walk, jog and bike.

Our country was built on the backs of horses. It’s time we reciprocate by taking them out of harm’s way and giving them a humane retirement.

1. If you live in NYC, please join NY-CLASS in its efforts to rally support among lawmakers for the Mayor’s bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. If you live elsewhere, please sign their petition.

2. To learn more about the issue and keep apprised of news, subscribe to the weekly newsletter of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages by sending an email to coalition@banhdc.org.

3. Watch the award-winning documentary film BLINDERS to see why people have been fighting for years to take the horses out of NYC:

After an eight year campaign on the streets, at City Hall and on the big screen, activists in NYC are one giant step closer to achieving their goal of ending horse-drawn carriage rides in the congested streets of midtown Manhattan.

On the week of December 8th, Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to introduce a bill that would prohibit the city from renewing horse-drawn carriage licenses starting in mid-2016 and prevent the horses from being slaughtered. The bill also offers several job saving provisions, including free green taxi medallions (value: $6,000) for horse-drawn carriage drivers. The bill won’t be put up for a vote for several months to allow for a public hearing and lobbying by both sides.

In 2006, a veteran animal rights activist in NYC, Elizabeth Forel, founded the Coaliton to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. The group’s relentless efforts led to a change in the public discourse, with New Yorkers and elected officials talking for the first time about about banning, instead of reforming, the trade.

Coalition to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages Protest (photo: Donny Moss)

In 2008, another animal rights group, NY-CLASS, which has been lobbying NYC lawmakers for the past several years in support of a horse-drawn carriage ban, proposed an alternative to the carriages – electric vintage cars – to address objections by lawmakers that a ban would eliminate jobs. The Mayor’s bill would allow carriage drivers to pursue this alternative, if they are interested.

Music legend Chrissie Hynde introduces NYC Media to electric vintage car proposed by NY-CLASS

Over the years, the animal rights group PETA has raised awareness of the plight of NYC’s carriage horses through provocative campaigns, celebrity spokespeople and protests.

PETA billboard in Times Square

In 2008 and 2009, the documentary film BLINDERS about NYC’s horse-drawn carriage controversy aired on the Documentary Channel and was screened at film festivals around the country, exposing an unsuspecting public to the truth behind the tradition of NYC’s horse-drawn carriage trade.

After being educated about the issue, Mayor de Blasio made a campaign promise to ban “inhumane” and “unsafe” horse-drawn carriages from NYC streets during the 2014 Mayoral race.

The front-runner in the Mayoral race, Christine Quinn, blocked efforts to help the horses and instead passed a rate hike for the drivers when she ran the NYC Council. Because of her egregious record on animal protection issues, local activists launched a four year campaign starting in 2009 to cripple her Mayoral bid. She came in a distant third, demonstrating the potential impact of grass-roots animal rights advocacy.

“Anybody But Quinn” for Mayor of NYC

Horse drawn carriage rides have been curbed or outright eliminated in many urban areas around the world, including London, Paris, Beijing and Toronto. Just one week ago, Salt Lake City lawmakers voted unanimously to be ban horse-drawn carriages.

If you live in NYC, please join NY-CLASS in its efforts to rally support at City Hall for the Mayor’s bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. If you live elsewhere, please sign their petition to ban horse-drawn carriages from the streets of midtown Manhattan.

To learn more about the issue and keep apprised of news related to the movement to ban the industry, please subscribe to the weekly newsletter of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages by sending an email to coalition@banhdc.org.

Watch the award-winning documentary film BLINDERS: The Truth Behind the Tradition.

NYC carriage drivers have committed more than a dozen “hit & runs” over the past five years, according to allegations in police records that the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) obtained by court order from the City of New York. Jane Velez-Mitchell speaks to Chris Green, Legislative Director of ALDF, about the news:

One of 14 “hit & run” complaints filed with NYPD

At a NYCLASS press conference at City Hall announcing the reported “hit & runs,” ALDF’s Legislative Director Chris Green said that the group also discovered “several alarming incidents” that had not been publicly reported. In one instance, a child was rushed to the hospital after falling out of a carriage and being run over by a wheel. The police report stated that the victim “suffered injuries to stomach, chest and head.”

Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) announces “hit & runs” at NYC press conference

In another incident, a carriage driver “was thrown to the ground” and found by police “laying in the street, not moving.” In the photo below, a  driver was ejected from carriage and hospitalized in a coma when his horse spooked and collided with a station wagon. Unlike many other accidents, this one was reported because witnesses took photos and informed the press and local advocacy groups.

Crash in midtown shows danger of mixing horses and cars (photo: Catherine Nance)

With the help of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages and the local office of Friends of Animals, the ALDF filed a successful lawsuit against the City of New York to release the “hit & run” and other records, which show that “children, cyclists, pedestrians, carriage drivers passengers and NYPD officers have been physically injured by accidents involving New York’s horse carriages.”

Tensions ran high at the press conference, as members of the opposition, including reporters who favor the industry, asked hostile questions of the speakers, including NYC Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, who spoke in favor of removing carriages from the streets.

NYC Council Member Tweets Support of Horse-drawn Carriage Ban

The effort to ban horse-drawn carriages has been an uphill battle, in part because the NY Times, NY Post and Daily News have published editorials in support of the trade. Nonetheless, local and national animal rights groups continue to advocate relentlessly on behalf of the horses. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who agrees that carriages do not belong on NYC streets, has stated on multiple occasions that he intends to “end carriage rides” in NYC.

If you live in NYC, ask your Council Member to support the Mayor’s plan to end carriage rides in NYC

Sign the two petitions to ban horse-drawn carriages: Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, NYCLASS

To keep apprised of developments, subscribe to the weekly newsletter of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages by sending an email to coalition@banhdc.org

Watch the award-winning documentary film BLINDERS: The Truth Behind the Tradition that exposes the truth behind the tradition of NYC’s infamous horse-drawn carriage trade:

On Sunday morning, a carriage horse escaped from his handler and fled down 11th Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Police officers chased the spooked horse in vehicles with flashing lights, which could have made him even more frantic. If the incident had taken place at a busier time, the horse could have easily crashed into a moving car, which has happened many times in the past when horses break free in midtown.

The fleeing horse is symbolic of an industry out of control since the ASPCA relinquished its humane law enforcement duties in January. On Friday, The Daily News published a letter about the chaos written by Elizabeth Forel, president of the Coalition to Ban Horse-drawn Carriages:

Because horses are flight animals, many have spooked and fled frantically down NYC streets. In  The blinders that curb their vision can only block some of the stimuli. In 2007, a horse named Smoothie who fled after being spooked by drums crashed and died on 59th St.

Smoothie spooked and died on 59th St.

Because horses spook unexpectedly, little footage exists. A wedding photographer in St. Louis, however, did capture a horse who fled with a carriage when revelers set off sparklers (1:07)

While waiting for NYC Mayor de Blasio to fulfill his campaign promise to take the horses off the streets, activists continue to advocate on their behalf. On Wednesday, NYCLASS is hosting a lobby day at City Hall “to urge Council Members to support the Mayor’s efforts to end the unsafe and inhumane carriage horse industry.”

On Thursday, the organization is staging a protest in front of lawmakers’ offices in memory of Charlie, a carriage horse who fell to the ground and died on the street.

RIP Charlie

On Sunday, the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages is staging a protest on 59th Street, where the carriage drivers line up to wait for customers.

If you live in NYC, please join NY-CLASS in its efforts to rally support at City Hall for the Mayor’s plan to ban horse-drawn carriages. If you live elsewhere, please sign their petition to ban horse-drawn carriages from the streets of midtown Manhattan.

To learn more about the issue and keep apprised of news related to the movement to ban the industry, please subscribe to the weekly newsletter of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages by sending an email to coalition@banhdc.org.

Watch the award-winning documentary film BLINDERS: The Truth Behind the Tradition.