Horses are expensive to keep alive, safe and healthy, and they justify that expense when they are allowed to work. But when the opportunity to work is prohibited, the unintended consequences for most are neglect and ultimately slaughter.
Their is a family gnome who is a horse lover and has spent time with the owners of said carriages and their horses and hanging at the stable. Got to know a lot of the horses by name in their youth, and yes they own their own horse today. If they were miss treated I am sure I would have heard about it.
This is about power and making his mark and then acting like a Benevolent Diktator when he backs down. Mussolini complex me thinks he has. But it is also about sending a message, I am in power don't screw with me.
IMHO only a fool would consider giving up a carriage ride for a ride in an electric carriage / car or whatever he has in mind. It takes all the joy and fun out of it.
If it does happen, their are plenty of other cities where these rides occur and I am sure the horses would find good homes in these cities...
Years ago, the horsies on 59th Street were not too well-cared for. Then that actress Kim Somebody and her then hubbie, Alec Baldwin, started lobbying to get rid of them. The usual celebrity brouhaha ensued with both sides - the people who loved the carriages and the PETA types - going after each other. I guess in the interim between then and now, the horse owners and stables cleaned up their act. I stopped following it after awhile. Of course, Kaiser Wilhelm lives 30 years in the past, so I’m not surprised he’s finally caught up with this.