Nix the carriages? Nix the elitists, too

Alexandria, Va.: After 150 years, a single, absolutely horrific human death and 30 horse deaths over that same time period have brought no compromise on horses and city asphalt. The Manhattan some of us were raised knowing may have to abandon the carriage trade. This quintessential Noo Yawk tourist attraction, the romantic notion of riding in a horse-drawn carriage, could still be in Central Park if a safe place were made for them, but clearly requiring an agreement to no cars, bikes, scooters — no shared driving space.

That no longer seems to be what anyone wants to attempt in city government. But if politics is pushing this industry’s extinction, then here is what some might suggest must be done. Both the Clinton Park Stables and the West Side Livery should immediately be declared historic landmarks. This would prevent NYCLASS from accomplishing the mission, unwittingly or not, as a front for wealthy real estate developers. Historic museum exhibits and even live history events — having a real horse or two with a coach driver dressed in late 19th- or early 20th-century garb — would continue the tourism value Manhattan needs to maintain.

Commercialization the likes of our current “cleaned up” Times Square, and catering to extreme wealth at the exclusion of what gives the city some depth, have been the wrong directions for the borough that most tourists see first.

Indifferent to animals

Wappingers Falls, N.Y.: It was depressing and appalling to see the Daily News come out in favor of voting against a bill to stop the brutal, exploitative NYC carriage horse industry (“Mamdani and Menin horse ban bill is an........

© NY Daily News