A fringe surrey
What could be more romantic for tourists visiting the big apple than having a romantic Carriage Ride through Central Park? The brides love it and even the Queen of England rode that way. The carriages on central New York streets are obvious holdovers from a bygone era when life was slower and the distractions, political and otherwise were fewer. The carriage trade has its own set of problems and solutions that challenge many “modern” folks’ ability to understand. The horse and carriages have their own garages and the animals are inspected and medicated by large animal veterinarians as proscribed by NY laws.
But there are some well-meaning folks that want to stop the trade and cancel the business that is part of the romance of New York and Central Park in particular. It is hard for them to accept that animals should be made to work for the comfort of people. Some of them feel these animals deserve to be freed from servitude and some don’t like the idea of horses obstructing traffic. These ancient criticisms were revved up again last week when a 15-year-old carriage horse named “Gunner” was spooked by drivers on the regular street as the carriage was headed to the pickup point from the stable. The driver had let go of the reins to fix a malfunctioning canopy. Gunner took off running and the driver could not stop him. As the poor horse tried to escape the fear, he pulled the carriage to and from hitting four cars along the way and finally breaking free from the harness and pulling the carriage driver out of his seat onto the pavement. Gunner slipped and fell near 55th Street where two off-duty officers helped to secure the horse.
The horse was later taken to Clinton Park Stables with minor injuries to its legs and body by mounted police. The political group NYCLASS tweeted about the incident, calling on Mayor Eric Adams to take swift action to “remove cruel and unsafe horse carriages.” According to this activist group: “The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers polled want horse carriages removed from our streets. It’s time for the NYC Council to start listening and to take action to remove these suffering horses from the street.” Curiously, it appeared Gunner knew where he was going when he slipped on the wet pavement. He was headed back to his stall in the company stable.
Manhattan Mirth
It was a Saturday morning the lobby of my apartment building was bustling with people coming and going as the mail carrier arrives; one of my neighbors came barreling through the lobby, chatting on her cell phone. Seeing the mail carrier, she yells across the lobby, “Oh by the way, I just found out that my husband’s New Yorker subscription expired months ago. So you are right, you haven’t been stealing them.”
What’s a New York Irish Catholic view of heaven?
A Knight’s of Columbus with an open bar.
New York is a great city. Today I was at the library, I asked the librarian for a library card. He told me I first had to prove I was from New York.
So I robbed him.
My friend is half horse…
And always the centaur of attention.
December 4th Birthdays
1973 – Tyra Banks, 1965 – Marissa Tomei, 1955 – Cassandra Wilson, 1942 – Gemma Jones
1988 – Joshua Mosei, 1998 – Ruru Madrid, 1949 – Jeff Bridges, 1974 – Dan Bongino