A lawsuit filed by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 against animal advocacy organization NYCLASS over its public statements about the NYC horse carriage industry ended on Thursday.
The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court in November, with “both sides agreeing Thursday to end the litigation,” according to a statement from TWU
“The TWU continues to believe that NYCLASS has repeatedly made false claims that horses who died of natural causes were mistreated, while also unfairly branding a whole class of workers – Central Park’s Carriage Drivers and Owners – as animal abusers,” a union statement read. “But this legal action could drag on for years. So, the TWU is reallocating resources to more immediate efforts aimed at defeating the proposed virtue-signaling legislation that would ban carriage-horse rides.”
The legislation the union referred to is called Romanch’s Law, a bill that would ban horse carriage operations in Central Park named for Romanch Mahajan — a teenager killed in an incident involving one of the equine-drawn cabs in June.
“This legislation would economically devastate about 200 immigrant workers and their families and evict the iconic NYC carriage horses from their stables – without providing funding to ensure they would get the high-quality care they receive now,” the statement read.
A carriage horse in Central Park.File Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Meanwhile, NYCLASS said TWU’s decision to end the case vindicated its position that the lawsuit was an attempt to discourage criticism of the horse-drawn carriage industry. The organization had invoked the state’s anti-SLAPP protections, which are intended to protect people from lawsuits made that could discourage protected speech.
“TWU’s lawsuit was textbook abusive lawfare, intended only to punish and silence advocates working to protect horses, carriage drivers, and the public,” Bonnie Klapper, an attorney for NYCLASS, said. “This is precisely the kind of retaliatory and frivolous litigation New York’s anti-SLAPP law was enacted to stop: powerful interests using costly court proceedings to chill protected speech and deter people from raising urgent concerns about animal welfare and public safety.”
NYCLASS executive director Edita Birnkrant said the organization would continue advocating for legislation to phase out horse-drawn carriage rides.
“We will not be silenced, and we will not stop fighting to pass Romanch’s Law to phase out this deadly practice because New York families and tourists deserve safe streets, horses deserve humane treatment, and carriage drivers deserve a safe and sustainable future,” she said.
NYCLASS and TWU remain divided over the circumstances surrounding Mahajan’s death this year. Mahajan’s family has filed claims seeking $105 million from the city, alleging that city agencies failed to address safety issues in Central Park. The family alleges that stray electrical voltage was among the factors that caused or contributed to the horse becoming startled and bolting.
TWU has pointed to the Mahajan family’s claims as a separate legal dispute involving the city. NYCLASS has continued to argue that the carriage industry poses risks to horses, workers and the public.