It’s too hot to trot — and now New York City’s horse carriage drivers are the ones getting cooked.
Horse-drawn carriage drivers say they haven’t been able to work a full day since July 5 due to the unforgiving heat – an “unusually long” work stop order from the city that’s affecting their bottom lines.
Under the city’s administrative code, ride suspensions are issued by the Department of Health, which sends a text blast out to drivers when temperatures reach over 90 degrees or if the air temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit or above and the equine heat index is 150 or above.
“It’s so bad,” carriage owner Ahmet Bilici told The Post this week from inside Clinton Park Stables, located several blocks east of Central Park. “We couldn’t go out. Even when we go outside, it’s slow, there’s not much tourists [as] there used to be … It’s killing us.”
Bilici, 49, who has been a carriage driver for more than 20 years, said the heat-related suspension has even impacted his ability to pay his bills.
A rep for Clinton Park Stables — which houses 45 carriages and 90 horses — said they’ve been forced to cancel dozens of scheduled Central Park carriage rides in the past few days due to the extreme heat.
“We’ve had a lot of disappointed customers that we’ve had to contact and say that our bookings are canceled because this is their once in a lifetime trip — but you know, the law’s the law,” Christina Hansen, Clinton Park Stables’ spokesperson, told The Post Wednesday.
“We can’t help that there’s a heat wave,” she added. “You never know what New York City weather is going to be like.”
While Hansen, 44, said the company is no stranger to work stoppages during the scorching summer tourism season, she noted the recent heat wave had lasted “unusually long.”
Edita Birnkrant, executive director of non-profit NYClass that has fought to ban or restrict carriage horses, told The Post that this week has seen some of the longest suspensions in recent memory.
“It’s been so extremely hot and humid,” she said. “I don’t remember this many days in a row with suspensions ever.”
During cooler heat waves, Clinton Park Stables has typically been able to send out drivers first thing in the morning beginning at 9:30 a.m., or in the evening, but Hansen said the temperatures and high humidity in recent days have forced them to stable their horses altogether.
“Right now, the last few days, because it just hasn’t cooled off overnight, and the humidity is so high, we haven’t been able to go back out at night or we haven’t been able to leave the stable in the morning,” she said. “That’s what happened today.”
Birnkrant said the DOH’s directive hasn’t stopped all drivers, some of whom were blasted by NYClass this week for driving just before another heat suspension was issued Thursday afternoon.
Since July 5, Birnkrant has received “dozens” of reports of carriage horses working in the sweltering heat, she said.
“Even after a suspension is called … carriage drivers often keep the horses on the streets well over an hour after the suspension has gone into effect – it’s incredibly inhumane and dangerous for both the horse and everyone in Midtown if they collapse or run wild,” Birnkrant said in an email.
“There’s really no enforcement of the drivers after the suspension is issued in terms of how much longer the horses are out there [or] how long a ride will continue,” Birnkrant added.
Drivers have 30 minutes to end their trips after the DOH text goes out, Hansen said, though it typically takes about 90 minutes or more to get horses back to the stable.
Hansen also maintained that Clinton Park Stables strictly adhere to the work stoppage due to the hot weather. None of their drivers had received fines or tickets in recent days for violating the city order, she said.
But she claimed the drivers have been unfairly targeted this summer by animal rights activists seeking to expose them for violating the rule when they would see a horse out when the temperature was 90 Fahrenheit or above.
She noted many activists don’t understand the company has unlimited time to get the horses back to the stables after the DOH advisory goes out — as long as the trip is ended within 30 minutes, drivers are in the clear.
A spokesperson for the DOH told The Post it has received one heat-related complaint since July 5, marking an increase from the zero reported heat-related complaints last summer. A follow-up from the NYPD found no violations, the DOH said.
This summer’s lengthy suspension comes on the heels of legislation introduced last month by Council Member Robert Holden (D-Queens) to end the “barbaric” practice once and for all.
Dubbed Ryder’s Law, after the frail horse that collapsed in Aug. 2022 and later died, the legislation would ban the carriage industry from city streets, free the animals and establish a workforce development program to help drivers find other jobs.
Hansen noted that New York City has the lowest stop work temperature in the country at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. In comparison, Philadelphia’s work stoppage temperature limit rests at anything above 91 degrees Fahrenheit. In Charleston, the temperature cut-off is 95 degrees.
“Think about how many horses are out doing things right now in places that are hotter than New York City,” she added.
Hansen, who monitored the weather forecast on her phone as she spoke with The Post, said she expected Clinton Park Stables drivers to be back in business for the weekend rush, or as early as Thursday morning.
“In the summertime, you do have to be more vigilant whenever there’s extreme weather,” Hansen said.
“But everything’s fine. It would just be nice if we could get some work in sometime in the next couple days. But it is what it is. It’s summer.”
