Carriage Workers Union Sues Group Opposing Carriage Trade

The acrimonious public battle over New York City’s horse carriage trade ratcheted up further on Nov. 10, when the union representing carriage workers sued one of their primary critics, the advocacy organization NYCLASS (New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets). They’re seeking $1 million in damages.

A bill in the New York City Council, Ryder’s Law, intends to all but eliminate horse-bound transport in NYC—and has unsurprisingly met with the ire of carriage workers. It’s unclear if the bill has any immediate future, however, after failing to pass a key committee vote on Nov. 15; groups like NYCLASS vow to reintroduce the measure in future years.

The bill had gained widespread political traction due to multiple local carriage horses meeting rather public demises in recent years, including the death of the eponymous Ryder on West 45th Street back in August 2022. The practice, which is widely associated with Central Park, dates to the 19th century.

Ryder’s coach driver, Ian McKeever, was caught on camera whipping the collapsed horse. He was acquitted of animal abuse charges back in July, after he testified about his love for the animals, and convinced the jury that he was unaware of preexisting health issues Ryder had. Indeed, autopsies determined that Ryder—and Lucy, another horse that died on West 52nd Street this August—had generally undetectable illnesses that caused their deaths.

The TWU is not hesitating to emphasize these findings in their suit. They’re also alleging that NYCLASS has been merely seeking to scoop up abandoned stables for real estate purposes.

“NYCLASS has continuously and maliciously intentionally [sic] used falsehoods and misrepresentations to injure and destroy the horse carriage industry and the carriage workers represented by TWU,” lawyers for the union write.

“Beginning with its original messaging dating back to 2009, and continuing through its recent reporting to the IRS, NYCLASS has expressed its purpose of replacing carriage horses, through alternative transportation options like e-carriages,” the suit continues. “NYCLASS has also never walked back from its prior statements regarding the value of the associated [carriage] real estate.”

The suit expressly quotes from a leaked 2009 draft publication attributed to NYCLASS entitled “The 21st Century Horseless Carriage,” and is attached as an exhibit to their lawsuit.

The draft includes the following tidbit: “Replacing horse-drawn carriages with the green 21st century Horseless Carriage will create a windfall for the carriage industry from the sale of its multimillion-dollar stables alone.”

The publication states that, at least in 2009 dollars, such sales would net “estimated incremental city-tax revenues of nearly $2 million.” The TWU suit also quotes from a 2010 speech that NYCLASS Co-Founder and President Steve Nislick gave, where he said that switching from carriage horses to e-carriages would “free up a lot of real estate.”

NYCLASS, the TWU argues, has been “strongly pushing” Ryder’s Law “under the guise of animal rights activism.” They go on to emphasize the aforementioned autopsy findings, before making bolder claims, namely that NYCLASS has falsely portrayed itself as rescuing horses from slaughter numerous times.

These horses, with names such as Bernard and Chance, were featured heavily on NYCLASS’s social media as animals saved from certain death by the organization’s interventions. The TWU, meanwhile, alleges that this is all false.

They say that Bernard was reportedly purchased by an entity called Gentle Barn, not NYCLASS, and that a TWU member named Christina Hansen even offered to step in and “retire” the horse. They add that Chance (or Chocolate) was given to a farm in Lancaster County, Pa., with the intention of putting him up for adoption—not slaughter.

“Somehow Chance eventually ended up with NYCLASS Co-Founder and President Nislick, who then began the false malicious claims that continue to date that Chance was rescued from slaughter and the carriage industry,” the suit alleges.

NYCLASS responded to the suit on social media. “The Transport Workers Union’s frivolous $1M lawsuit against NYCLASS is a desperate attempt by a failing business brought low by its own actions—and a Trump-style bullying tactic meant to silence free speech and activism,” they wrote.