» New Rules, Fees for Central Park Horse and Carriages

New Rules, Fees for Central Park Horse and Carriages

Friday, April 16th, 2010

horse-carriage-nyc The City Council overwhelmingly approved a new set of rules for horse-drawn carriages in the city on Wednesday, reports the New York Post. The new measure requires each horse to get five weeks off per year for a break outside the city (currently there is no vacation requirement for horses), restricts horses from going south of 34th Street, and prohibits horses from being anywhere in the city between 3:00 am and 7:00 am. In addition, the bill increases wages for the city’s 220 carriage drivers, who will be able to charge $50 for the first 20 minutes of a ride, a big increase from their old fee of $34 for the first 30 minutes. While some believe this is a step in the right direction, other animal activists will likely keep fighting the horses’ presence in the city, as many claim that the horses will only be treated fairly when they stop working in the urban horse-drawn carriage industry.