The City Council took up the next bid to kill the Central Park horse carriage industry Tuesday.
The so-called Carriage Horse Heat Relief bill from Councilman Keith Powers (D-Manhattan) would, in effect, lower the point at which horses must stop working, which was set at 90 degrees back in 1989. Powers wants a new standard, a heat index of 90 — meaning that high humidity would shut down the carriage trade at temperatures even as low as 80 degrees.
Yet there’s no record of a single carriage horse harmed by working in the heat since the ’89 law kicked in. And the National Weather Service doesn’t issue heat advisories until the index shoots well above 90.
Plus, the index is designed to flag threats to human health: Equine bodies handle high temps and humidity more efficiently.
Carriage drivers took the day off to testify vehemently against the legislation — and not just because it would cost them key hours of business during their prime season. It would hurt the horses, too, by confining them to their stables without exercise for days at a time.
Powers is simply looking to work the will of the odd coalition of ignorant animal rights extremists and cynical real estate interests aiming to kill the industry. Why else would his bill exclude NYPD horses, who work on the streets, while targeting the equines that work in the park — which is typically cooler in the summer?
It’s outrageous that hard-working drivers have to take off work to defend themselves, and their horses.