Lettes & Editorials
Saving the Horses
Many
people want to see the horse carriage trade come to an end in NYC, and
with the looming mayoral election, now is the time to get serious and
support legislation that could make it happen. We started this campaign
in 2006, and all online polls done since that time show between 75 and
80 percent of respondents favoring a ban of this trade.
Most
people who support a ban just want to see the horses off the street and
have not analyzed the electric car bill—Intro 86A. But the money does
not exist for these cars. I know, because I have analyzed the bill and
the financials behind it. It will cost $4,000,000 the first year to put
23 cars on the road to substitute for 23 horses. The overall cost will
be close to $12,000,000. Politicians, who may not realize the funding
does not exist, have said that they will leave it up to the tourists to
decide which they like better—the cars or a carriage ride. This is not
what anyone who supports getting the horses off the street wants.
How
much longer are politicians going to look the other way and try to
shift responsibility for doing the right thing? Are they waiting for a
human death to occur as it has in other parts of the country?
Besides, a ban of this business should not be dependent on the success of an untried business.
Continued
support for this Emperor’s New Clothes bill is hurting the legislation
that actually would make a difference: New York State Senate Bill S667
and Assembly Bill A997, sponsored by Sen. Tony Avella and Assembly
Member Linda Rosenthal, respectively.
These
bills are are not glamorous and not surrounded by celebrities but
nevertheless have a better chance of passing and becoming law if
legislators have the courage to support them.
It is time! Horses do not belong on congested city streets. There have been too many accidents to mention here, and many continue to go unreported.
Please get involved and visit us at www.banhdc.org.
— Elizabeth Forel, Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages