Activists hail horses’ move; Hacks unhappy
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
The Central Park carriage-horse
hack lines are now offi cially inside
of the park.
On Sun., March 3, about 25 members
of the animal-rights group New Yorkers
for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets,
or NYCLASS, gathered at Central Park
South and Sixth Ave. to celebrate the
new hack-line locations.
“This is the fi rst step in making their
life a little bit less miserable,” said
Danny Moss, an animal-rights activist
and creator of the animal-rights online
magazine, Their Turn, who attended
the rally.
According to NYCLASS, for more
than a decade, they have pushed for
the Central Park carriage horses to be
removed from the streets surrounding
the park, in order to keep them away
from vehicle exhaust and traffi c that
can “spook” horses.
A man who works in Central Park
could attest to having seen one of the
beasts become startled and bolt.
“I’m not sure how it got scared but
something triggered it,” said a bike vendor
for Central Park Bike Rental of a
horse-carriage crash he witnessed two
years ago. He said the horse was exiting
the park at 59th St. and Sixth Ave., ran
into traffi c and smashed into a doubleparked
car outside of the Ritz-Carlton
Hotel.
But the fi ght over horses isn’t over yet
for the group , which ultimately wants
horse carriages abolished, according to
NYCLASS member Brian Gari.
During the rally, Edita Birnkrant,
NYCLASS executive director, spoke
Now that the lanes for horses in Central Park have been widened after
a curb was removed along their edge, there’s space for two carriages
abreast.
about the long-awaited occasion while
being videoed for Facebook Live for the
animal-rights site Jane Unchained.
As she spoke, the activists chanted
behind her, “The horses are fi nally out
of the street and soon we’ll get them
out of the heat!”
NYCLASS wanted to use the momentum
to raise awareness about their
newest campaign: supporting new legislation
that would make it illegal for
carriage horses to work when the city’s
heat index reaches 90 degrees.
“If the heat index is over 90, then,
yes, for the limited period that it’s over
90, they would not be allowed to work,”
Councilmember Keith Powers said in
an e-mail. Powers introduced the bill
on Feb.13.
According to Dr. David Marlin, a
horse physiology and heat-stroke expert,
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
the heat index is not the most reliable
means of quantifying if it is too hot
outside for horses to work.
“A heat index of 90°F is a good starting
point. But if it’s a full-sun day with
no wind, that’s very much worse than
90°F with full cloud cover and a strong
wind,” Marlin in an e-mail.
The heat index only takes into account
temperature and humidity.
What should actually be used, he
said, is the W.G.B.T. (Wet Bulb Globe
Temperature) index, a small piece of
equipment that produces a single “temperature”
after taking air temperature,
humidity, sun and wind all at the same
time.
Powers added that he wants to protect
the horses but also believes that the
carriage-horse industry should still exist
and thrive.
But carriage-horse drivers are unhappy.
For them, the the new hack-line
locations are harmful to the overall
well-being of the horses and the industry.
“We continue to refuse to use the
Seventh Ave. stand, because it’s not
only not big enough, but is downhill,”
said horse-carriage driver Christian
Hansen.
One of the carriage-horse drivers’
central complaints about the new hackline
locations is that the horses would
have to stand on an incline at 59th St.
and Seventh Avenue, preventing them
from fully resting.
Marlin confi rmed that horses indeed
need to be on fl at ground in order to
fully lock their legs, allowing them to
doze while standing.
Another complaint that is that the
pick locations are not wide enough for
two horses to safely pass one another.
According to the city Parks Department,
in the new hack lines inside the
park, the pickup and drop-off lanes are
each 6 feet wide. The moving lane next
to the pickup lane at the park’s entrance
at Fifth Ave. and E. 60th St., however, is
10 feet wide, allowing for ample space
to pass. According to Hansen, the moving
lane for the carriage horses at that
location has been repeatedly blocked by
M.T.A. buses, taxis, Ubers, tour buses
and even police vehicles.
One hack said that, in general, the
two lanes should be a bit broader.
“They should really be 7-feet wide,”
said Ian McKeever, a Central Park carriage
horse driver who has worked in
the industry for nearly 30 years. McKeever
added that he has already noticed
a drop-off in the number of customers.
City’s take on ‘voids’ rings hollow: Locals
BY GABE HERMAN
Local politicians and advocates
have started to see some results
in their push to end development
loopholes that allow for “supertall”
buildings by exploiting “voids” — spaces
allegedly for mechanical systems but
actually empty. But some are saying a
tougher crackdown is needed.
City Planning has proposed an
amendment to limit the size of mechanical
voids. Developers have used these
to create big unused gaps in buildings,
allowing for taller heights so that apartments
have better — and more valuable
— views. It’s a way to build higher
while still seeming to abide by fl oorarea
restrictions.
A supertall building at 432 Park Ave.,
between E. 56th and E. 57th Sts., for
example, used the mechanical-voids
loophole to account for 25 percent of
the building’s space.
In January, developer Extell had its
permit revoked by the Department of
Buildings for an excessively large void
in a supertall tower planned at 50 W.
66th St. A half-block from Central Park
West, the building, as planned, would
have soared 775 feet tall — though with
just 40 fl oors. Extell president Gary
Barnett said he may sue the city for
imposing restrictions that are not currently
law, according to The New York
Times.
City Planning’s proposed text amendment
for residential towers would count
voids taller than 25 feet as part of the
project’s fl oor-area ratio, F.A.R.; count
voids within 75 feet of each other as
part of the F.A.R.; and impose the same
25-foot void limit for mixed-use buildings
where nonresidential uses are less
than 25 percent of the building.
The proposal was certifi ed by the
City Planning Commission on Jan. 28
and is making the rounds at community
board meetings through March 8, as
part of the public hearings process.
Councilmember Ben Kallos, whose
district includes parts of Midtown and
the Upper East Side, has started a petition
for people to express support for
the amendment. He wrote in his February
newsletter, “We’re saying No to
empty buildings fi lled with mechanical
voids simply to give the 1% better
views while leaving the rest of us in
their shadow.”
There are already building height
limits in eight of the city’s 10 residential
zoning districts, along with all historic
districts and some special districts. The
issue is in the two other districts, which
have no limits on height, though they do
have F.A.R. caps. Much of that area falls
in Midtown and in Lower Manhattan,
at the borough’s southern tip. While the
new amendment would protect parts of
those areas, other sections which are
part of central business districts would
remain vulnerable to void loopholes.
Chris Giordano, president of the
64th Thru 67th Streets Block Association,
wrote in an announcement to his
group that many who are pushing for
an end to loopholes felt the amendment
didn’t go far enough.
“In some cases City Planning’s
choices appeared arbitrary and with
only the intention to give the developers
greater fl exibility,” he wrote.
The residents group created a letter
template for people to express concerns
to City Planning Chairperson Marisa
Lago. Among the letter’s requests are
that mechanical spaces be limited to
12-feet high; that such spaces be at
least 200 feet apart within buildings;
that the zoning rules also apply to all
commercial and mixed-use buildings,
along with residential; and that ceiling
heights be capped at 15 feet.
The letter continues by asking for
new rules to be swiftly implemented
that would “allow reasonable contextual
development,” and that would “provide
light and air for our neighborhood.”
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