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Queens Councilman Wants Horse-Drawn Carriages Banned From City Streets

NY1 News

May 11, 2006

A Queens councilman plans to introduce legislation Thursday that would ban hansom cabs from city streets and allow them only in Central Park.

Councilman Tony Avella says the mix of the horse-drawn carriages with pedestrians, cars, buses, bikers, and emergency vehicles is a recipe for disaster.

The hansom cabs are allowed to leave Central Park after 9 p.m. and can go as far as Times Square after 11:30 p.m.

Some animal rights activists say the carriages are cruel to the horses and they are calling for an outright ban on the vehicles.

Avella says hansom cabs have been involved in a number of recent accidents, including a bad crash in January. The carriage driver was seriously injured and the horse had to be euthanized.

 

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