HORSE SENSE
Periodic updates about issues and actions concerning New York City's Carriage Horses +
Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
www.banhdc.org
Horses Without Carriages International
www.horseswithoutcarriages.org
PLEASE FORWARD TO LISTS, FRIENDS & ASSOCIATES ** Demo next Saturday ** Three petitions to sign ** CB4 carriage horse hearing ** Lesson in local government ** Assemblymember Glick's newsletter **
NOTICE: Please follow us on Twitter @BanHDCarriages
CARRIAGE HORSE DEMO NEXT WEEK
Saturday, October 15th
Please some to a demo against the inhumane and unsafe carriage horse trade. The horses need your voice. Please speak out for the them.
- When: Saturday, October 15th - 1-3 pm
- Where: North/west corner of Central Park South and Fifth Avenue
COMMUNITY BOARD 4 HEARING ON CARRIAGE HORSE BILL
Wednesday, October 19th
Community Board 4, which covers the district of the carriage horse stables and is also Speaker Christine Quinn's district, will hold a hearing on whether to support the Avella/Rosenthal bill that is currently in the state legislature. This bill would ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC.
- When: Wednesday, October 19th at 6:30 pm
- Where: Holland House, 351 W 42nd Street.
Please come to the hearing prepared to give three minutes testimony why the Board should support this bill. It is very important to get a huge crowd to attend since it will directly impact on whether CB4 supports the bill. Please mark the date on your calendar.
SEVERAL PETITIONS TO SIGN FOR CARRIAGE HORSES
Why it is important
It is important to sign petitions directed to legislators because they were voted in to represent you. They need to know your position on an issue even if they will not do anything about it. They need to be held accountable.
We have three petitions for you to sign:
- Intro 670 - this is in the City Council and deals with the real humane disposition of carriage horses and making the industry accountable. Please click here to sign.
- S5013 and A7748 - This is the bill in the NYS Legislature and will ban horse-drawn carriages in NYC. If you live in New York State, please click here to sign
- Same as above - except it is for people who live outside New York State. Please click here to sign
(Picture above is of Beauty. Because he is a nervous horse, his blinders are taped to limit what he can see. )
A LESSON IN HOW LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKS
Why it does not matter how many Members support a bill
There are 51 members of the NYC Council - each elected by a majority of voters in his/her district, representing all five boroughs. The Speaker is elected by the Members of the City Council - not the public. It is not a citywide office as is the office of the Comptroller or Public Advocate. Council Members do much better and have more impact in their own community where they have control over issues. They do very badly when it comes to legislation since they are encouraged to follow the Council Leadership and not their constituency's wishes. The unfortunate news is that your Council Member ends up not really representing you, but their own self-interest instead. As a committee chairperson, Council Members can receive tens of thousands of dollars in additional compensation. This plays a large part in how they play the game and how they will vote.
Generally, the Speaker has total control over which bills are supported in the Council. If Speaker Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg put their support behind a bill, it will pass and become law. If they do not, it goes nowhere. It does not matter how many sponsors the bill has. Please understand that. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MANY SPONSORS THE BILL HAS!
The Speaker can use the powers of that office to punish a Council Member for going against his or her wishes. This means losing their Committee Chairs and related stipends or being otherwise ostracized. Council Members vote the way the Speaker wants. If a difficult bill looks like it has enough votes to pass - such as the extension of term limits - the Speaker gives "dispensation" to the Council Members who represent progressive districts such as the Upper West Side so they can vote as their constituents want. It is unheard of for the
Council to override the Speaker.
These are two examples of bills that went nowhere even though they had many sponsors:
- Resolution #497 - 2006 - dealt with Humane Education. 41 Council Members (or 80%) sponsored this bill. Yet when it came up for a vote in the Education Committee, 12 of the 13 members who had actually sponsored it, voted against the bill. Why? Christine Quinn opposed it.
- Intro #417 - 2006 - this bill would require fire sprinkler systems in all facilities that provided services to animals. 47 (92%) Council Members sponsored this bill. It was filed at the end of session meaning it was killed and never resurrected.
- In addition to these two bills, both of which appeared to have a lot of support, only to meet sudden death, there have been several other bills concerning animal issues that have been introduced and ignored by Council leadership. They include Intro 13, the Pets in Housing bill that clarified the "3-month law" and Intro 389, the bill that banned the use of wild animals in circuses. This would affect elephants and tigers.
So it is clear that only bills supported by Speaker Quinn will pass. Bills such as the recent one that repealed the law of 2000 that mandated shelters in each borough; or the one that banned the use of tethering dogs -- the only problem was that it was for 3 out of 12 continuous hours and was a totally worthless bill. But the media hype would have you believe otherwise. It means that someone would have to camp out for over 12 hours with a video camera to prove that the law was violated. It was a bad bill, but nevertheless got the support of Council Members who obviously could not care less. It was also supported by the ASPCA and NY-Class. Why? Ask them.
WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS
We have a mayoral election in November 2013. By next year, it is expected that contenders will have stepped up and announced themselves. The only candidate to announce so far is Christine Quinn. We do not support her and if you care at all about animal and social justice issues, you should not either. She has successfully blocked all bills to ban the horse-drawn carriage industry and recently killed a press conference for Intro 670, our bill to make the industry accountable when their horses are no longer wanted.
We hate to see people being manipulated by organizations with much more money and power than we have - with perhaps questionable motives. Please understand the workings of the City Council and how Christine Quinn would not be a good Mayor. Her record speaks for itself.
The ONLY WAY the horse-drawn carriage business will be shut down in NYC is if we get a mayor who wants to do so - -and it must be someone who is not obligated to any political group.
THANKS ASSEMBLYMEMBER DEBORAH GLICK!
takes a stand on the state horse-drawn carriage bill
This is Assemblymember Deborah Glick's Fall 2011 newsletter. See what she says about the carriage horse trade.
She is pictured with Bobby II Freedom at the Equine Advocates sanctuary in Chatham, NY. Bobby is a rescued former NYC carriage horse and a very handsome guy. Click Here.
WANTED FOR MAYOR
our wish list
We are a movement in search of a candidate. These are our requirements:
- intelligent, strong, honest, ethical, accountable
- will listen to all the people - rich and poor alike - a true believer in democracy
- progressive on social justice, animal justice and other issues
- will ban the horse-drawn carriage trade and save the horses
- will take Animal Care and Control out from under the thumb of the Department of Health
- will bring in Nathan Winograd from the No Kill Advocacy Center to assess the shelter system, make recommendations and take them.
- does not matter what race, ethnic group, gender or sexual orientation - but must not use that to get elected
ELECTRIC CAR MODEL UNVEILED
Will Quinn give up her traditional support for the carriage industry?
The vintage replica electric car model is finally introduced after more than two years. Click here for story. Next stop is an actual prototype to see how it works in the NYC streets. This car is the subject of Intro 86A and will replace horse-drawn carriages. Its acceptance depends solely on Speaker Christine Quinn, a big supporter of the carriage industry. At some point she will need to choose between the Queens Democratic Party and NY-Class / ASPCA.
While it cannot hurt to have Council Members sign on to the bill, it means nothing if Quinn is opposed. This is what people must understand - that it is more important to focus on who the next mayor will be.
HELP OUR ORGANIZATION BY SHOPPING ON LINE
Through a free registration with iGive, when you buy merchandise on line, your purchase will help us. There are over 700 stores that include such popular ones as Amazon.com, Staples, Best Buy and Barnes & Nobles. Even Cafe Press is available if you purchase some of our merchandise. Click here to get started.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK & SIGN ONLINE PETITION
See our Facebook page called No Walk in the Park. And while you are there, please join another anti-carriage horse page by a colleague called 212HorsePower . Horses Without Carriages International also has a Facebook page. Please join!
"Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever
has." Margaret Mead.
