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 FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES ** Call the City Council ** Donate to our advertising campaign ** Your information requested ** Weather restrictions - what you can do ** Theirturn.net - on the horse carriage issue ** carriage driver arrested ** Horses do not belong in NYC traffic ** PLEASE DONATE and be part of history
NOTE: the best way to receive this newsletter is to subscribe directly. Although I post it on other lists, sometimes (for reasons unknown) they do not approve it - so you are subject to their whims. PLEASE CLICK HERE to subscribe directly. If you want to see past newsletters - CLICK HERE for our archive.
IT'S 2015 - WE HAVE A BILL - INTRO 573 - LET'S GET IT PASSED.
Urgent: Please take action - call the City Council
TELEPHONE TUESDAY: You can call your Council Member any day but we call it Telephone Tuesday to help you remember. Please take a few minutes to call your council member if they have not yet signed on to the bill. Your participation is the only way to make a difference. Please do not stand on the side line and expect someone else to do it. If you do not make the small effort to call your Council Member, how do you expect they will know your views? This is link to INTRO 573 - the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages.
CLICK HERE to reach the Council web site to find out who your council member is. CALL the DISTRICT OFFICE - DO NOT E-MAIL OR FAX. These methods of communication are more likely to be ignored.
- SUGGESTED SCRIPT - YOU: Good morning, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent. I live on [your address] I support an unconditional ban on horse-drawn carriages and I would like to know if [your Council Member's name] supports Intro 573, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. You might also tell them it is a public safety issue and it is inhumane.
- COUNCIL OFFICE: the person who answers the phone may transfer you to someone else or suggest you call the Legislative Office or actually take the message. Ask them if they keep track of these calls.
- YOU: If they support a ban - thank them; If they are on the fence or opposed to the ban ask them why and if they would be open to receiving more information.
- IMPORTANT: If they say they would be willing to receive some information, ask them for the e-mail address of a specific person - maybe the Chief of Staff, maybe the Legislative Aide. Do not agree to send it to their general office e-mail. You can say that you want to be sure someone receives it. Contact us for assistance with this. coalition@banhdc.org
- Note: If the Council Office is not able to give you an answer, tell them that you will follow up in a week. Tell them this is a very important issue and you would like an answer. Follow up.
- RESULT OF PHONE CALL: Please let us know what happened - e-mail us at coalition@banhdc.org
OTHER CALLERS: this is for out-of-towners; those whose representatives have already signed on to the bill; and those whose representatives are opposed to a ban (you will find out who they are when you call.)
- CALL THESE COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE:
- James Vacca - (Bronx) 718-931-1721
- Deborah Rose - (Staten Island) 718-556-7370
- David G. Greenfield - 718-853-2704
- Antonio Reynoso - 718-963-3141
- Daniel Garodnick - 212-818-0580
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO:
- Visit the District Office of your Council Member. Tell them that you are a constituent and want the CM to support Intro 573. Ask for a meeting. Bring a hand written letter to the Council Member - this will go a long way.
- Call your Council Member every week if they are undecided to remind them that you would like them to support Intro 573. Don't be shy. They represent you.
YOUR INFORMATION REQUESTED
Please help us move this campaign to the next level
I recently put out a request asking for your contact information so we can move to the next level -- thanks to those who have already provided it. We need to target the NY City Council much more than we have been doing. This is crucial to support this legislation. We hope you will be involved. To that end, we need to collect the following information from you if you are a NYC resident.
- Name (first and last)
- Street address
- City, State and zip code
- Telephone Number
- E-mail address
Please e-mail coalition@banhdc.org -- or simply hit "reply" on this e-mail.
NOTE: if you live outside of NYC and want to be more involved, please provide the same information requested.
Please know that we will not share your personal information with anyone. Thank you for helping the horses. Together, we can do this.
CARRIAGE DRIVER ARRESTED FOR DEFACING CAR
dumber than dumb
NY POST: 1/14/15 - Horse carriage driver scratches F-bomb into what he thinks is a cop car
A lame-brained horse and carriage driver may have thought he was pulling a fast one on cops when he scratched an F-bomb into a car with "NYP" plates.
But the ride actually belonged to CBS medical correspondent Dr. Max Gomez - a member of the "New York Press."
Peter Fayolle, 57 - who's apparently so acronym-challenged he forgot about the "D" in NYPD - carved "F U" into the door of Gomez's new gray Mercedes-Benz C300 on East 90th Street near York Avenue on Dec. 29, cops said.
"There had just been [anti-cop] demonstrations around the corner at Gracie Mansion. It seemed like he was trying to send a message," Gomez told the Post.
Fayolle was charged with criminal mischief Saturday. The gone-buggy carriage driver claimed he was arrested because Mayor de Blasio doesn't like horse and carriage drivers, according to police.
He didn't return calls by press time.
Cops said he also targeted another car in the neighborhood and may have just been angry over parking spaces.
WHAT GROUPS ARE DOING TO BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES
from www.theirturn.net
IN EPIC BATTLE TO BAN NYC'S HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES, ACTIVISTS LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED. - theirturn,net
From the article: In the highly charged effort to ban horse-drawn carriages from the streets of NYC, activists can rarely anticipate the unseemly events that lurk around the corner - from false accusations by elected officials and hostile media outlets to physical and verbal attacks by carriage operators. What they can - and are - doing, however, is moving mountains to help pass the Mayor's historic bill to ban the city's inhumane, unsafe and archaic horse-drawn carriage trade.
Following are some of the most compelling tactics being employed by NYCLASS, the animal rights group leading the lobbying effort, and the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, which started the movement in 2006.
WEATHER RESTRICTIONS - WHAT TO DO
Winter in NYC can bring some very cold and snowy days. If the weather is 18 degrees Fahrenheit or below, the NYPD is supposed to suspend the carriage trade. They are also supposed to do this with snow, icy conditions and heavy rain. Let's make sure they do: Here are numbers to call if you see a carriage out under these circumstances. Get the license number and location:
- MOUNTED UNIT - 212-868-2585
- CENTRAL PARK PRECINCT - (212) 570-4820
- MIDTOWN NORTH PRECINCT - (212) 767-8400
- REPORT TO 311 - by phone or ON LINE.
This picture, taken by Donny Moss, occurred a few years ago since NYC has not yet been hit by a serious snow storm this year. The carriage trade should have been suspended that day, but it was not out of negligence by the ASPCA. The drivers often ignore the law, more interested in making a buck.
ABSURD: HORSES SHOULD GET THE RIGHT OF WAY IN MANHATTAN
this in a city of 8.4 million people
- NYC is one of the most congested cities in the world. The area traveled and worked by the horse carriages is filled with cars, taxis, buses, emergency vehicles - i.e. police cars, ambulances and fire trucks, people on bikes; people walking. It is not a place for 19th century horse-drawn carriages. During the day, the drivers park at the hack line picking up fares to take for a quick loop through the park. This is part of the extreme congestion and the site of many accidents. This is where the drivers make their illegal U-turns and go through red lights.
- If you live outside NYC and only see it in pictures, with all due respect, you do not know what you are talking about when you suggest to us that horses should get the right of way in this city. That is simply absurd. It is an extremely busy city with people on the move. If you live in a tiny town of 7,000 in Missouri or Ohio, you cannot imagine what it is like.
- These slow moving, flimsy, open, and dangerous carriages pulled by horses whose nature allows them to spook at any number of stimuli and cause havoc DO NOT BELONG on NYC streets. The drivers are constantly putting pedestrians, other cars and the passengers in their own carriages at risk.
- The carriage drivers disregard the law because they have gotten away with it for years. Why? It is because they are entitled and certain Council Members are afraid of the Teamsters and those "behind" the carriage trade. They think the Teamsters will support them in their quest for elected office. They get away with it because the NYPD does not want to enforce the laws since they have a score to settle with Mayor deBlasio.
So think twice and three times before you suggest (or tell us) that the carriage horses should have the right of way. I dare anyone who supports the carriage trade to put their money where their mouth is and be willing to put their own horse in the NYC carriage business for one week. The horse will be forced to work in heavy traffic for 9 hours a day and 7 days a week -- that is the law. He will be stuck between the shafts of a carriage for all this time, weighted down with equipment. He will get no pasture time and be brought into Times Square in the evening where he can work until 3 am. He will eat his grains off the dirty street and only sometimes get water. When he goes back to his stable, he will access his small stall by way of a steep ramp and stay there until the next day. Are any of these people willing to sacrifice their horse to this grueling life? Are they willing to bet that their horses will not suffer both mentally and physically? (image by Donny Moss)
LET'S DO IT THIS YEAR!
Please donate to our campaign. - We cannot do it without you.
The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages started the campaign to ban horse-drawn carriages in 2006. We believe this kind of campaign would never have happened if we had not done so. It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to pull this off - an organization with nothing to lose. It also takes a strong commitment, which we have always had. Our work was acknowledged by Ourtown/Westside Spirit. But we are very thankful other organizations have joined the fight and helped to make the "animal lobby" something with politicians have to contend. WE CAN DO THIS. But we still need your help. We need you to make the calls to the City Council as I ask above -- and to donate to our advertising campaign.
If you have never donated before -- or even if you have - PLEASE consider donating again. We take no salaries and do this in our free time. All donations go to our work. Starting in February, we will be advertising in several different subway stations. We will also begin advertising in local newspapers. We would love to do more but we cannot at this time.
If you would like to donate, please click here. You may do so by mail or you may use Paypal. (the attached is one of the ads we ran last year.
HELP OUR ORGANIZATION BY SHOPPING ONLINE - iGIVE
If you buy online, you can help the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
Through a free registration with iGive, when you buy merchandise on line, your purchase will help us. Many organizations give a percentage of the sale to not for profit organizations at no cost to you. There are more than 1500 stores that include such popular ones as Amazon.com, Staples, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble. Click here to get started.
On iGive - the name of our organization is "The Coalition for NYC Animals, Inc." Click here to begin.
PLEASE JOIN US ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google Blog & Flickr
"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.
