Crains New York - July 8, 2013 - (Page 18)

TOURISM POLICY Horses drawn into fight program to launch in the spring. A study conducted for their hooves well shod. Fans and fresh water cooled NYCLASS by HR&A Advisors claims the buggies them as the temperature rose. Stable hands led the will bring in $33 million in annual economic activity; preternaturally skittish animals down walkramps to a the carriage-horse drivers would be guaranteed jobs ground-floor garage, where they were harnessed to driving them.The same study valued horse tours at $19 carriages and sent with their drivers on a one-mile trot million annually. to Central Park. The activists say 32 council members are in favor of NYCLASS has made a name for itself by decrying the pilot, but not Ms. Quinn, whose support is needed the horses’ “nose-to-tailpipe” life navigating around to bring the program up for a vote. cars through city streets to and from the park. The ocRegardless, the group believes it has become a pocasional spooked horse tearing through traffic helps litical force, garnering so many headlines that it is now feed the campaign to ban the rides. emboldened to take on more causes. “In the past year, The horses get a minimum of five weeks’ vacation we’ve made the decision to work on other animal isevery year. Many are shipped off to fields in Pennsyl- sues because we discovered we’re pretty good at organvania for leisure, often for three months at a time. izing and lobbying,” Ms. Feldman said. Still, that’s not the kind of rest they need, animalNYCLASS helped pass a bill in Albany targeting rights activists say.“Anyone who knows anything about puppy mills and is working on a local housing bill to emhorses should know that carriage horses don’t power tenants with pets.“If a pet dies, it would need three months of consecutive vacation,” allow a tenant to adopt another pet regardless said NYCLASS Executive Director Allie of what the landlord says,” Ms. Feldman said. Feldman. “They need daily turnout”—time HOURS PER DAY The group is also trying to reform the city’s beyond the animals’ daily work regimen to a horse can work. shelter system, push pet stores to stop selling They must stop frolic in fields to ward off lameness. dogs and cats that come from what NYwhen it gets Again, the city’s horse industry disagrees. above 89 degrees CLASS describes as abusive breeding faciliBut no matter: Ms. Feldman and her organi- or below18. ties, and ban the commercial use of circus anzation have the carriage trade on the defenimals. “We’re for an animal-free circus,” Ms. sive. “We know that they’re with us,” she said of the Feldman said. mayoral candidates. Three—Public Advocate Bill de Stable owners suspect those causes are a front. “If Blasio and Bill Thompson, both Democrats, and Re- they were successful in shutting down the carriage horspublican Joseph Lhota—have vowed to ban the indus- es, I bet they would wind up their operation after that,” try. Democrat Anthony Weiner has yet to declare a po- said Clinton Park Stables manager Conor McHugh. sition, but “when he was in Congress, he had an For now, he and his colleagues enjoy the backing of excellent record on animal protection,” Ms. Feldman City Hall. “We believe that a safe, regulated horsesaid. “I’m confident that if anyone but Quinn is elect- carriage industry should continue to be a part of the fabed, we’ll finally get these horses off the street. Our time ric of our great city,”said George Fertitta,CEO of NYC has come as a voting bloc.” & Company, the city’s official tourism arm. NYCLASS wants the horse-drawn buggies reThe drivers say their love of horses brought them to placed with vintage-looking electric cars. A City the job in the first place. “Maybe the electric car will be Council bill to do that failed in 2010, but now the fine, but people like the real horses,” said Ilyas Arln, group is building a prototype vehicle,a 1909 Pierce Ar- who has been driving a carriage horse here for five years. row buggy that seats eight, and advocating for a pilot “I’ll drive an electric car, but I prefer the horse.” Ⅲ Continued from Page 16 9 IT TAKES A STABLE HAND: Each morning workers at the Clinton Park Stables on West 52nd Street, between 11th and 12th avenues prep the the animals to draw carriages in Central Park. Thick straw bedding, a shiny coat and plenty of exercise are signs of 18 | Crain’s New York Business | July 8, 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - July 8, 2013

Crains New York - July 8, 2013
IN THE MARKETS
BUSINESS PEOPLE
SMALL BUSINESS
INSIDER
REAL ESTATE DEALS
OPINION
GREG DAVID
NICOLE GLAROS
IN THE BOROUGHS
TOURISM REPORT
CLASSIFIEDS
FOR THE RECORD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - July 8, 2013