Council Member Feliz supports horse carriage ban and COPA

Permission to explain my vote?

Permission granted.

Thank you, Majority Leader.

So many big bills that we're voting on today.

Proud to vote aye on all.

I'm especially proud to vote aye on the COPA bill and also the horse carriage bill.

On the horses, it is time to ban the horse carriages for many reasons.

First, my colleague said it perfectly, this is not the 1800s anymore.

Second, these carriages, as we know, have created serious and escalating public safety threats for all of us.

Every single year, there's a new incident, a new accident.

These horses, as we know, are not meant to be in a loud and busy city like ours.

They can panic and run unpredictably and uncontrollably with something as simple as a vehicle noise, as a garbage truck, something that is obviously common in a busy city like ours.

These are issues that cannot be resolved through more training and more legislation.

I'm so glad that we're finally doing what is right and we're finally putting an end to these carriages.

We're also doing it in a way that is responsible.

We're making sure that there's a transition period for the workers and also making sure that the horses are also protected.

So I just want to thank Speaker Menon and also Councilmember Marte, really good on making this bill and this idea a reality in the city of New York.

Also briefly on COPA, I just want to congratulate Councilmember Nurse on getting that bill to the finish line.

That was obviously not an easy bill.

I know all of us remember those very long conversations during meetings, including Democratic Conference.

Obviously a very complicated issue.

You worked tirelessly and diligently, and you left no stone unturned.

did everything you needed to do to get that idea into reality, and make a lot of the city of New York, so congratulations.

I vote aye on all.