Posted on 01/04/2014 8:10:25 AM PST by george76
Rush Limbaugh has come out swinging in defence of the heavily Irish horse and carriage industry in New York’s Central Park after new mayor Bill de Blasio promised to put them off the streets.
Over half the drivers of the 200 horses are Irish, but they are fighting a rearguard action against de Blasio, who had major support from animal rights groups.
De Blasio stated that one of his first acts would be to end the horse and carriage trade and replace it with electric car tours.
"We are going to quickly and aggressively move to make horse carriages no longer a part of the landscape in New York City... They are not humane. ... It's over."
Limbaugh, among others, scoffed at that.
(Excerpt) Read more at irishcentral.com ...
Thanks for the info. Very interesting take on this story.
I know. Let’s just turn all our horses loose in the city and let them run free like nature intended. If I was a carriage driver, I would say “DeBlasio said it’s over, so it’s over. I guess they’re the city’s problem now. I got no use for them.”
Apparently the stables sit on prime real estate...
The drivers usually encourage interaction between the public and the horses. And the horses love the attention!
When we were kids we'd always bring a bag of carrots with us to feed to the horses when we were going to midtown. That's my sister in the first picture. Later, she she paid her way thru nursing school by driving a carriage through Central Park on weekends and during school breaks.
My brother once drove a team of grays for The Cattleman. He usually drove the restaurant patrons once around the block but sometimes he'd transport them to the theater. The outside horse, Shawn, did not like people approaching him from the rear and more than once they were sent flying by a kick from his rear leg. Stephen always warned them beforehand ... but some people refuse to listen. There was never a lawsuit.
To be perfectly frank, I’ve never seen children fooling around with these horses. I’ve also found the drivers unfriendly to the point of hostility. Many of them are deeply eccentric, as well. That said, I’d like to see them remain and Kaiser Wilhelm defeated on his first so-very-important initiative.
Thanks again for the stable info. I want to spread this news around to people who think this is an animal welfare issue.
Kaiser Wilhelm
I’m not quite sure what you mean by ‘fooling around’ but in 50+ years we never had a problem petting or feeding the line horses. And I’m really surprised that you ran into hostile drivers. They’re in the hospitality business ... fares and tips are their bread and butter ... not running off customers. But I’ll admit, there are a few quirky characters out there.
If you’re interested, I could arrange a tour of a stable for you. A friend owns one of them. She and her mother (the original owner) are the salt of the earth and the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. They cherish their horses!
Finally the media is getting it: http://spectator.org/blog/57345/de-blasios-horse-drawn-carriage-ban-it-really-about-campaign-cash
That’s very sweet of you - I’d love to see the stables. All I know are the old stables that have been converted into beautiful houses in NYC.
The most important thing is that you get the news out there about redevelopment. This is, obviously, the whole story. I’m over at The Guardian telling the dumb Brits who are all buying into the PETA argument (without ever having been to NYC). Good luck and hope you keep your horsies.
That’s NOT nice.....
Great! Inbox me when you want to go. It’s a 7-day-a-week operation and Anita & Gloria are there most days. They bring some horses over to their farm in Pennsylvania Dutch Country for their scheduled vacations every couple of weeks and they take a cruise once a year ... otherwise the stable is their life.
Personally, I’d wait until Spring when the weather is nice. The last time I sent someone Anita let them ride in a carriage from the stable to the park. :-)
I have an ultra-liberal friend on Facebook. I’ve been battling with her Occupy friends about this. I asked them, why if they are for the 99%, they are being a tool for the 1%. No answer. Instead they’ll post a list of a dozen or so cities that have banned horse drawn carriages ... that NY should be in the lead but isn’t. When I post a list of the many dozens of cities that have the carriages, they tell me to stop posting stats. They claim the polluted air isn’t healthy for the horses ... I tell them it’s the same air their children are breathing. And so it goes . . .
All we wanted to do was drive our horses in Central Park, as we have since 1858. The carriage drivers are proud members of Teamsters Local 553, and while the Teamsters are no stranger to politics, the union hoped the mayoral election would be about jobs, workers' rights, working families, and building a better New York City for all.
Yet, animal rights activists have hijacked the 2013 mayor's race in the Big Apple. Attempting to win the votes and donations of animal rights special interest groups, NYC public advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio has pledged to ban horse-drawn carriages on his first day in office.
De Blasio's opposition to the iconic and famous carriage horses has baffled his opponents and outraged supporters of the industry. De Blasio's "strange" animal-rights turn seems to have been supported by NYCLASS, founded by real estate developer Steve Nislick, and by major Peta donor, Wendy Neu. NYCLASS and de Blasio propose replacing the carriage horses with electric cars.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/22/imagine-central-park-horsedrawn-carriag
Exellent article by a great woman. Christina Hansen is a carriage driver who infiltrated NYCLASS. She is also the co-founder of Blue Star Equiculture, a santuary for homeless and retired draft horses in Mass.
I will private message you. Can my husband come too? I’d love to see the stables. Please continue to press forth this DeBlasio corruption story. It needs to be front news. Is the New York Post giving this creep a honeymoon? I can’t find this story there but they do have a terrible website.
Thanks for the background info. Thanks for your efforts to stop this radical activist/all about the $$ nonsense.
Sure!
The story is beginning to get legs. The funny thing is that neither Anita nor Gloria are a bit worried about this ... they think the most that will happen is that they’ll get a few more “regulations”. And they’ve a a great Christmas season as folks flocked to the carriages for ‘one last ride’.
Nice article!
Having just watched the PBS special on the Lippizaner Stallions, it made me think what a crude and idiotic culture we have in America, by comparison to Austria which preserves all of its fine cultural traditions.
I’d love to see those PETA morons take their imbecilic act on the road to the stables of the Lippizaners!
ATTENTION ATTENTION!!! To my friends that are attending Westminster this year!!!
LOOK at what the Carriage Horse people have planned for you! Open house at Clinton Park Stables--a 3 minute walk from the Piers.
COME--tour the gorgeous stables--meet the horses and see for yourselves how well loved/cared for they are. Bring your dog for a ride in Central Park and show people that dogs and horses are true partners!!
PLEASE SHARE everywhere. We want CROWDS! Thank you Kira Schlesinger for designing the flyer!
This is Feb 10 and 11th.
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