The fight over the future of Central Park’s carriage horses is heating up, with animal rights activists threatening to sue the carriage drivers union for defamation after its leadership said the group was tied to real estate interests trying to develop the West Side.
In a letter Transport Workers Union head John Samuelsen and Local 100 president John Chiarello this week, an attorney for New Yorkers for Clean Livable and Safe Streets — NYCLASS — told the union to “cease and desist from making, publishing or distributing any further false statements” about the group, its spokeswoman Edita Birnkrant, or its co-founder and President, Steve Nislick.
“Apparently the fact that the Central Park Conservancy and Mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo, Eric Adams, Zohran Mamdani and Cirtus Sliwa have all called for an end to the abusive horse carriage trade has you rattled,” attorney Bonnie Klapper wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Daily News.
Following an announcement by Mayor Adams last week that he was coming down on the side of those against the iconic horse-drawn carriages and calling on the city council to enact a long-stalled law that would wind down the industry, Samuelsen took to social media where he likened the mayor to “Judas Iscariot,” and said that NYCLASS was “deeply connected to Manhattan real estate and its all about development of the Westside stables.”
In another post, Samuelsen accused Nislick of buying Adams’ support, claiming, “it wouldn’t be the first time that NYCLASS and their real estate mogul founder Steve Nislick have bought off NYC Mayors.”
In the letter, Nislick’s lawyer laid out a list of allegedly defamatory statements expressed by the union boss, and told Samuelsen he was now “on notice of a litigation hold,” and should preserve all records in expectation of a forthcoming defamation lawsuit.
Samuelsen told the Daily News Wednesday that he was unconcerned.
“Every single thing on that list is provable,” he said.
“It’s an effort to intimidate the Transport Workers Union into not representing our workers,” Samuelsen said of the letter. “It’s clearer than ever to us that we’re correct — this is an absolute David & Goliath battle for 170 largely immigrant workers against an organization that was founded by real estate developers.”
Nislick, a real estate exec, is the president of NYCLASS — a 501(c)4 non-profit with a stated mission “to inform business leaders, policy makers, and members of the community about alternative transportation options, traffic safety, and sanitation solutions that will improve the quality of life for residents of New York City,” according to IRS filings.
Samuelsen, asked to back up his claim that the group’s advocacy is linked to efforts to get control of the land under several carriage horse stables on Manhattan’s West Side, Samuelsen pointed to a 2017 report in Politico noting that Nislick was lobbying the de Blasio administration to outlaw carriage horses while also pitching development ideas for the West Side.
A 2015 email cited in that report between City Hall staffers — a copy of which was since reviewed by The News — recaps a call between a de Blasio aide and Nislick on lobbying efforts to push a carriage horse ban through a City Council committee and the broad brushstrokes of a plan to sell developers on affordable housing on “land between 43rd and 56th Street in Manhattan. ” Two of the stables are located on off 11th Ave, one on 52nd St. and another on 48th St, though the stables are not mentioned in that email.
At the time, representatives for Nislick told Politico that the two issues discussed in the email were “entirely separate.”
Speaking to The News on Wednesday, Nislick reiterated an earlier commitment he’s made not to buy any of the stables should they come up for sale.
“I’ve never had any interest in those properties whatsoever,” Nislick said. “Zero.”
In a statement, Birnkrant, the NYCLASS spokeswoman, punctuated that commitment.
NYC_WEATHER
Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News Horse and carriage in Central Park. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)
“Mr. Nislick stands ready and willing to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding, with terms including a legal declaration that he will not be involved in any developments on these sites—either directly or indirectly—and will pay the labor union pension fund $50 million if that pledge is broken,” Birnmrant said.
“Beyond this, he will sign an agreement stating that, even if the stables were offered to him for free, he would not accept ownership of the land in any shape or form,” she added. “This agreement will be enforceable by law.”
Asked if that pledge allayed any of his concerns, Samuelsen shot back, “Not at all, not in the least.”
“Nislick is involved in this industry and has a dozen proxies he can go to effectuate his goals,” Samuelsen said.
Nislick noted that this was not the first cease-and-desist letter he’s sent Samuelsen. The most recent letter references at least two other such communications from 2022.
“The last time we sent [one] they discontinued the lies,” Nislick said. “We’ll see what happens this time — if they don’t, I’m gonna sue them.”
Samuelsen said he’d welcome it.
“A defamation action leads to discovery,” he said — meaning NYCLASS would need to submit internal documents as evidence to prove their claims. “We would love nothing better.”
