For the time being, the city’s horse-carriage drivers have kept their livelihoods.
On Wednesday, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced she won’t commit to holding a vote on a horse-carriage ban this year, even though she, like Mayor de Blasio, supports one.
The speaker merely bowed to reality: There just aren’t enough votes in the council to shut down horse carriages and eliminate the 300 jobs involved. Councilman Rafael Espinal, whose Consumer Affairs Committee has oversight of any ban, has denounced it.
Just as important, notwithstanding a deceptive, politically charged campaign by animal-rights activists, the horses and their drivers remain popular with both New Yorkers and tourists. In short, there’s no public support for a ban.
Alas, this is only a stay of execution. All the activists have to do is keep bringing it up every few years, sowing new uncertainty and forcing drivers to spend money to defend themselves.
We wonder if the Central Park Conservancy might find a more permanent solution. For if the objection is really what the activists say — horses on the city’s busy streets — perhaps the conservancy could find a way to bring the stables to the park.
Yes, it would be complicated and expensive. But it would be a compromise that keeps the horses off the streets while preserving the drivers’ ability to earn a living.
The Conservancy has demonstrated it knows how to run the park. We’re willing to bet that when it comes to keeping a popular icon of this city alive, the issue would be better in its hands than the City Council’s.