The Transit Workers Union, which represents the city’s hansom cab drivers, gathered Friday to unveil a new plan leaders hope will bring better oversight to the industry.

“If you’re concerned about the horses, the best thing to do is to keep them in 843-acre park with the city government that has regulations and has shown a strong interest in regulating and taking care,” Pete Donohue, a spokesman for TWU, said.

The plan calls for the city to fill an open position for a veterinarian to check on the horses' health conditions. Union officials say this position has been open for over a year.

What You Need To Know

  • The Transit Workers Union, which represents the city’s hansom cab drivers, gathered Friday to unveil a new plan leaders hope will bring better oversight to the industry

  • The union also wants a stable built in Central Park, near the 86th Street Transverse, to eliminate the need for the animals to commute through traffic

  • The plan calls for the city to fill an open position for a veterinarian to check on the horses' health conditions
  • Union officials say the position has been open for over a year

TWU also wants a stable built in Central Park, near the 86th Street Transverse, to eliminate the need for the animals to commute through traffic.

They’re also calling for more water troughs throughout the park.

“There is no Central Park without the horse. Olmstead designed it to be seen from the back of the carriage. He intended the carriages moving on the carriage drive,” Christina Hansen, a hansom cab driver for 10 years, said.

She said if the industry went away, it would be devastating for the horses and the owners.

“Horses are living beings, just like people. People get sick, people trip over curbs and fall down. But this is a way to continue to improve things for horses, but also to educate the public,” Hansen said.  

Last month, a video of a horse collapsing in Hell’s Kitchen went viral.  

NYCLASS, an animal rights group fighting for years to eliminate horse-drawn carriages from the city completely, calls the sight seeing service antiquated, unnecessary, “cruel” and “unsafe.”

Drivers, like Ariel Fintzi, take offense to that because they say they consider their horses like their children.

“It’s painful. It’s painful because we want to make sure this house is staying nice and quiet, is comfortable, is content,” Fintzi said.

According to City Hall, it will review the proposal.