NEWS RELEASE

Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 17, 2012

67th ASSEMBLY DISTRICT NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY

CONTACT: Lauren Schuster, 212.873.6368, 347.729.4729, schusterl@nysa.us

ASSEMBLYMEMBER LINDA B. ROSENTHAL RENEWS CALL FOR PASSAGE OF HER BILL TO BAN HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES IN NEW YORK
Latest Accident Highlights Inherent Danger of Carriage Industry New York, NY Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan) today renewed the call to pass her bill, after a spooked carriage horse careered into traffic, collided with multiple vehicles, violently threw its driver and passengers from the carriage and onto the street, shed the wreckage of its damaged carriage and ran free for four blocks in midtown Manhattan traffic, before being tranquilized by law enforcement. I have been calling for an end to a practice that places profit above safety the safety of the horses and the unsuspecting public for years, said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. What will it will take for the City and the industry to get the point? Assemblymember Rosenthal continued, The congested streets of Midtown Manhattan are no place for horse-drawn carriages. Today, we are lucky that the injuries and property damage were not far worse. The horse could have been killed and any number of unsuspecting pedestrians could have been killed or seriously injured during the frenzy. Since last summer, numerous incidents involving horse-drawn carriages have occurred; serious human injury was reported in one. A separate incident in the fall of 2011 resulted in the death of a young carriage horse. The horse-drawn carriage industry is inherently dangerous. Despite claiming to have taken every available precaution, the industry cannot ensure the basic safety of the horses or the public, said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. If an industry is incapable of preventing recurring accidents, the State has a responsibility to step in. We have been lucky up to this point, but our luck is bound to run out. The New York State Legislature must pass my bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. The legislation (A.7748/S.5013), introduced in June 2011 and cosponsored in the New York State Senate by Senator Tony Avella (D-Queens), would prohibit the operation of horse-drawn carriages in New York and require humane relocation of the horses released from service. Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal represents the 67th Assembly district, which includes the Upper West Side and parts of Clinton/ Hells Kitchen neighborhoods in Manhattan.
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DISTRICT OFFICE 230 West 72nd Street, Suite 2F, New York, NY 10023 TEL (212) 873-6368 FAX (212) 873-6520 ALBANY OFFICE 741 Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12248 TEL (518) 455-5802 FAX (518) 455-5015