A lawsuit filed by the city’s biggest transportation workers union on Monday alleged the animal rights group NYCLASS spread misinformation about the city’s carriage horse industry in a bid to clear the way for developers who have long eyed the Manhattan stables where the animals live.
The lawsuit, which seeks at least a million in damages, was filed by the powerful Transport Workers Union and comes two months after Mayor Eric Adams called to ban Central Park’s carriage horses and replace them with electric cars. For years, NYCLASS has protested the industry, claiming the ponies are mistreated and abused.
The union pointed to comments from NYCLASS cofounder Steve Nislick in 2010 where he said eliminating the horse industry would “free up a lot of real estate.”
”NYCLASS was founded by real estate executives. They spend decades in the real estate business, and they're more interested predominantly in just getting the land, where the developers want to build hotels and luxury houses,” union Vice Chair Alexander Kemp said.
Manhattan’s carriage horses stables are mainly located west of 10th Avenue between West 37th and West 52nd streets.
The suit also claims legislation before the City Council to ban the industry is predicated on a false narrative. The suit points to online posts by NYCLASS, claiming the group lied about the underlying causes that led to several horses to collapse on city streets.
“Through repeated malicious misrepresentations about the drivers and their treatment of their horses, NYCLASS has engaged in and encouraged the demonizing of drivers and their lawful businesses,” the suit alleges.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has given mixed messages on the issue. At one point during his campaign, he said he’d ban the industry. But ahead of the general election he said he’d first convene a panel to study the living conditions at the stables. The Central Park Conservancy came out against the industry for the first time in August.
The Transport Workers Union has ramped up its defense of the industry, which has more than 200 drivers who are represented by the union. TWU has in recent months taken out full-page newspaper ads against Council members who support the carriage horse ban.
NYCLASS has responded with ads of their own, accusing Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen of betraying workers who are put at risk when horses run out of control.
NYCLASS director Edita Birnkrant dismissed the lawsuit as a “desperate attempt by a failing business.”
“For years, New Yorkers and people around the world have witnessed horses collapsing and even dying on our streets, spooking and running wild in traffic and in Central Park, crashing into cars and injuring people,” she said. “Cities around the world have already phased out or shut down horse-drawn carriages, and more are continuing to do so every year to protect public safety and animal welfare.”
