An agreement has been reached between carriage drivers and the City Council that will see horse-drawn carriages remain a part of New York City, but limiting operations to solely within Central Park, according to New York Daily News.
Horses will be kept in a new in-park stable to be built by Oct. 1, 2018, and will be reduced in numbers from 180 to 95, according to the Associated Press. The new agreement will also prevent horses from travelling outside of the confines of Central Park except for when going to and from their stables, according to New York Daily News.
The decision comes after animal rights advocates have condemned the longstanding New York attraction, claiming that keeping horses in central Manhattan is a cruel practice and a form of animal abuse, according to CNN. Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to put an end to the carriage rides when he took office two years ago and has since suggested the use of electric antique cars that are driven by the same drivers as an alternative, according to CNN.
The horses currently live in private stables on Manhattan's West Side, but the new agreement means that animals not currently at work must be on furlough outside of the city, according to ABC7 New York. The horses will also not be allowed to work for more than 9 hours in any given 24-hour period, starting Dec. 1, according to the Associated Press.
While an improvement on current conditions, some have criticized the mayor for not going far enough to carry through on his promise to end the rides. Elizabeth Forel of the Coalition to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages questioned the decision to house the horses on public land and stated that she remains opposed to any solutions that don't advocate for a full ban on horse-drawn carriages, according to the Associated Press.
