By Juan Soto
Fashion guru and actor Tim Gunn wants City Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) to support Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ban on the horse-drawn carriage industry. And Angelica Huston is targeting Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) seeking the same support.
Gunn appears in the latest citywide campaign blitz put into place by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets asking constituents in Weprin’s district to call his office and urge him to support the bill introduced by City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) that calls for a ban in the industry by next summer.
The only problem is that Gunn is not the celebrity featured in the ad installed at the bus shelter outside Weprin’s district office.
Instead of Gunn, Weprin has in front of his office the ad picturing Russell Simons intended to take aim at Councilwoman Deborah Rose (D-Staten Island).
A spokeswoman for PETA said the installation of the wrong ad in Weprin’s district “was an error. And we are going to correct that.”
The ad picturing Gunn, who appeared in the movie “Sex and the City 2” and the series “How I met your mother,” reads, “Carriage drivers have been filmed spewing all kinds of racist, sexist, and homophobic taunts at anyone who dares express concern for the unfortunate horses forced to dodge buses and cabs every day.”
Weprin said he has not seen the ad. He did not go by his district office on Tuesday and Wednesday because he was working in his City Hall office. On Wednesday, the Council held a stated meeting. .
The lawmaker, however, said he could not support the ban unless there is a viable replacement for the industry and its 300 horse carriage drivers, many of whom live in northeast Queens.
“This is my position on the ban, but it is also the position of the majority of the district,” he said.
Weprin said that his constituents, in an informal poll, support the industry by 2-1.
“I am not in the business of killing jobs, but in the business of creating jobs and creating more economic development for the city,” the councilman said in an interview.
He said that “there is no reason to believe the horses in the industry are being abused because there are a lot of regulations in place.”
The campaign also is putting pressure on Koo from actress Anjelica Huston.
The Huston ads reads, “It’s surprising to me that a city known for its progressive spirit still allows this cruel and dangerous tourist trap. Dozens of accidents over the past few years highlight the immense safety hazard and lack regulation of this industry.”
Koo could not be reached for comment.
According to both animal rights groups, they began this week to put up the posters on bus shelters located by the select Council members’ district offices. The ads features a horse which died on a Manhattan street in 2011, PETA and NYCLASS said. The ads at the bus shelter locations will be in place until Jan. 15, the spokeswoman for PETA said.
The City Council is divided over the controversial proposal. Banning the industry was one of the mayor’s firm campaign promises.
At the time he introduced the bill, Dromm said he, and animal rights groups, including PETA, stand “in this struggle against animal cruelty.”
The other sponsor of the individualized ad campaign, is NYCLASS, the nonprofit group that pushed for the horse-drawn carriage ban during the 2013 mayoral campaign, attacking de Blasio’s main rival, former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
The only exception to allow for the use horse-drawn carriages would be on parades or during filming of movies or shows.
The legislation would not come to a vote at least until the summer, after the bill undergoes a six-month environmental review.
Reach reporter Juan Soto by e-mail at jsoto@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4564.
