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NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- New York Mayor Bill de Blasio will propose legislation that would ban all horse-drawn carriages in the city by May 2016. Citing animal rights concerns, de Blasio promised to end the city's practice of using the carriages when he was running for mayor, and is now poised to follow through, pending council approval.
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"New York City is on the verge of making history by leading the way to become a more humane, progressive city for all by ensuring that a form of animal exploitation -- carriage horse rides -- will no longer be considered a tourist attraction in the greatest city in the world," Friends of Animals campaign director Edita Mirkrant said in a statement.
"It's outrageous," an anonymous source in the carriage industry countered to the New York Daily News.
"Pink slips before Christmas. What a low life."
Although operators of New York City's 68 officially licensed horse drawn carriages would not have their contracts renewed when they expire in May 2016, the city will provide employment assistance for those left without work and waive the $6,000 green permit fee for those interested in becoming cab drivers.
"If they offered me a green cab medallion, I wouldn't take it," an embittered carriage driver told the New York Post.
"They really just want our West Side stable for real estate development," he speculated.
