Christina Hansen (TWU shop steward) testifies opposing ban

All right.

My name is Christina Hansen.

I am the shop steward for TW Local 100 Central Park Carriages and a carriage driver.

I have been a commercial carriage driver in Philadelphia and in New York City for 20 years this month.

And I've been here in New York for 14 years.

It's hard to fit a 5,000.

four centuries of history and decades of experience into two minutes of testimony, but at least it's longer than a TikTok.

It's good to be here in the same room with all of you, in person and not online in some comment section.

Horses helped build this very building 200 years ago.

There's George Washington and his horse, old Blueskin.

But at the same time that we in this industry have been devastated, have been mourning the Mahajan family, we are now being forced to fight for our own.

I have noticed that many people in this room have spent more time creating content for social media on this issue than coming to the stables, petting our horses, and meeting our drivers.

And unlike the last panel that purports to speak for us,

In the rest of this hearing, you are going to hear from our drivers, our carriage owners, and you can hear from them about how much they love their horses, and who are other people to speak for our horses than the people that know them best.

Horse-drawn cabs have been licensed and regulated by the city since 1692.

Our rates have been set by the city since 1813.

And we've been giving rides in Central Park since the day the park opened.

So that is the rental horse licensing and protection law, which was enacted in 1981.

We are the definition of a lawful, regulated business, and our safety statistics bear it out.

If anything has changed in...

Burrow.

President Hoylman's testimony in the last 40 years is smartphones.

People are disconnected from reality, but at the same time they can post things they see online all the time.

History has shown us that absolutely horrible things have been done in the name of progress, and many beautiful things are destroyed.

Opponents of the carriage industry have weaponized push polls to make everybody say, oh, the majority of New Yorkers want this band.

That has not been borne out by our unions polls of Central Park users.

70% of Central Park users found that carriage horses add beauty and charm to the park, and 60% opposed a ban when this was done last fall.

My real-world experience bears this out.

The smiles we see from people in Hell's Kitchen, the delight in children petting horses in the park, that's real-world experience.

We were closed for six months during the pandemic.

We went into the pandemic with 68 carriages and three stables, and we came out with 68 carriages and three stables.

Think of all the New York City businesses that we lost, and now you're sitting here and trying to lose another one.

There's been a lot of talk about job retraining, workforce development.

I am a horse person.

I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, horse capital of the world.

I own a horse.

His name is Sherman.

He's 12 years old.

I expect him to live for another 20 years.

And this bill is telling me that I can't go work with my horse in another place to pull a horse and carriage.

And I would wonder then if I could have my horse as a rental riding horse in Central Park.

The borough president just said his family's from Miller's Harness Company.

Miller's Horse Company from Manhattan Saddlery started up riding horses in Central Park.

What about the mounted unit?

Could I get a job with them in the stable or riding as a police officer?

Those horses are here in Midtown, in traffic, in the streets.

They're owned by the city, but that's a good city job.

You know, and that's what I am skilled at.

I don't need to be told to go work in a hotel or something like that.

I am a horse person, so will the city be giving me a job with one of your police horses?

And who's next?

Dr.

Cook?

Yes, can you hear me?

Yeah.

Good afternoon.

First, I am so sorry for the tragedy that brings us all here today.