It's expected to be heated Friday when members of the City Council debate for the first time on a bill that would limit horse-drawn carriages to Central Park. Mayor Bill de Blasio had originally backed an outright ban, but lacked the votes. The measure is also drawing opposition from different sides, for different reasons. NY1's Josh Robin explains.

There were barely a dozen of them, but the message was clear: stabling and limiting horse-drawn carriages to Central Park is a cruel idea.

"Friends of Animals insists on a full ban on this reckless antiquated industry," said Edita Birnkrant of Friends of Animals, an animal advocacy group. "And that's what Mayor de Blasio promised."

Promised but couldn't deliver after drivers drew support from council members to preserve their jobs. Their union announced a deal last weekend, but members are now balking at provisions that could still result in job losses.

Union members hope the bill can be tweaked before coming for a full vote, but enough support may already exist.

"I believe that we will have the votes necessary to pass this," City Council Member Daniel Dromm of Queens said.

Dromm sponsored the ban and then the amended the bill to limit the horses to the park and to city-owned stables in a complex south of 85th Street.

"We have to come together and realize that there are two sides to every issue and ultimately not everybody gets what they want," Dromm said.

Queens Council Member Rory Lancman is on the other side and doesn't know how he will vote.

"It's unfortunate that we're in this situation where we're going to end up having to spend potentially millions of dollars to move the horses to Central Park so that certain political debts can be repaid," Lancman said, referring to the support that horse carriage opponents gave to de Blasio's mayoral campaign.

Other council members weren't as interested in talking about this long-simmering issue. "Enough of this," one member told me. "We're tired of this."

Still, this may not end for a long time. If the bill passes the council, expect the fight to move to court.

New York City Parks Advocate Geoffrey Croft says public land in Central Park can't just be given to a private industry as de Blasio wants.

"[De Blasio's] own parks commissioner and the head of the central park conservancy — they didn't know anything about this," Croft said. "It really is the definition of what a behind-closed-door deal is."

The mayor and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito defend the plan.