Earlier this week, NY1 reported that City Hall appears in no hurry to replace horse drawn carriages with vintage looking electric vehicles. Thursday, animal rights activists took a prototype of the car to City Hall, to pressure Mayor de Blasio to fulfill a key campaign promise and ban the carriages. One leading activist turned heads with some incendiary language as part of his pitch. Josh Robin filed this report.
Russell Simmons rode shotgun in the battery-powered car, and then parked in front of City Hall. The mogul and animal-rights activist lobbed a few verbal bombs over the fence.
"You've got to have a lot more heart to be a good mayor," said Simmons.
According to this group, a good mayor also keeps his word. Mayor Bill de Blasio famously said he'd banned the carriages on day one. That was nearly 19 months ago after animal-rights activists helped him win.
Last year, de Blasio also said the city would quote proceed with the electric car as a replacements.
But documents show that in April, the city backed off studying the cars.
To cut to the chase, the horses still clop, the car is still a novelty and some of those elected him are steamed.
"We and those same thousands of New Yorkers expect him to move forward on his promises as quickly as possible," said Allie Feldman of NYCLASS.
"I feel very clear about the mission," said de Blasio.
At an unrelated event, de Blasio said some goals take a while.
"It's well known there are different views in the City Council and it's something I'll keep working on 'til we get the work done," said de Blasio.
Russell Simmons doesn't seem to want to wait and hints he'd back a rival in two years.
"He has to be a decent politician - not a great politician, to negotiate this deal," said Simmons.
The insults of the mayor didn't stop there. Simmons also heaped praise on two people de Blasio is known to criticize, his predecessor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The mayor said he's not worried about what Simmons says. And the mogul, along with carriage opponents, may be alienating some with his heat.
Heads turned when Simmons, a vegetarian, used a sensitive word to connect the carriages to the beef industry.
"The number of cows born into an abusive, horrible holocaust," said Simmons.
Others said the anti-carriage group has supporters clogging council officials' phone lines in an over-the-top lobbying blitz.
"If elected officials don't want to hear from constituents, maybe they're not in the right job," said Feldman. "It's their job to listen to their constituents."