Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration announced Sunday that the New York Central Park carriage industry will shrink from its present 220 horses to only 95 horses by 2018. This is in line with the Mayor's promise to his supporters that he would get rid of this business on his first day after being re-elected.
According to the New York Times, the deal will lead to the creation of a new stable in the Central Park that has the capacity to house 75 horses at a time by October 1, 2018. Twenty more horses will have their own rotation schedules to let all of the animals have ample rest.
A hearing on the deal is expected to happen this week. It needs the City Council's approval to pass. Animal-rights activists have been advocating against the horse carriage industry for a long time. These activists are big donors to de Blasio's campaign, providing about $1 million to defeat Democrat Christine C. Quinn.
The Wall Street Journal reported that de Blasio has been supporting animal-rights groups' advocacy that horses aren't supposed to be in city streets. He promised the New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets to ban the carriages after the group attacked his opponent Quinn back in 2013.
The deal is considered "an agreement in concept" for the carriage industry according to a statement by the carriage drivers Teamsters Local 553, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverity, and Mayor de Blasio.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement in concept on the future of New York's horse carriage industry," according to the statement in a report by the Observer. "We look forward to working together on the final details of this legislation and getting this passed."
Starting June 1, horses can still travel the city streets and back to their existing stables, until new stables are built. The city is working with the horse carriage industry to designate hack stands for horses in Central Park on the same date.
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