For years, Mayor Adams gave no indication he would support outlawing New York City’s horse carriage industry. In fact, on the 2021 campaign trail, he said he would as mayor oppose an outright ban.
Then, last month, Adams suddenly voiced full-throated support for sunsetting the industry — a flip-flop that came weeks after he and his top deputy met with a wealthy businessman who has long pushed for banning the horse-drawn carriages from Central Park and replacing them with electric alternatives, the Daily News has learned.
The Florida businessman, Josh Fox, who’s an Adams campaign donor, runs the Brady Hunter Foundation, an animal welfare group that is trying to find a way to manufacture the type of electric carriages he believes would be more humane than the horse-drawn buggies.
NYC Carriage Horses
Seth Wenig/AP File- This April 17, 2014, file photo shows a prototype of an electric carriage being displayed at the New York International Auto Show in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
One of Fox’s top executives at his foundation, cryptocurrency industry lawyer Eric Lerner, is an Adams campaign donor as well, contributing to his reelection run on the same day Fox did in July. Until recently, Lerner also helped run EmpowerNYC, the largest super PAC that supported Adams’ reelection run until he dropped out of the race last weekend.
Fox’s push to ban the city’s horse carriage industry dates back to at least 2023. To help get his proposal in front of city government officials at the time, sources familiar with the matter confirmed Fox hired Frank Carone, Adams’ longtime political confidant who had at that time just resigned as the mayor’s chief of staff to launch a lobbying firm, Oaktree Solutions.
The 2023 push with Carone fizzled without action from Adams but Fox resurrected his effort this summer and managed to land a meeting with First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro in mid-August to discuss his electric carriage plan followed by a private dinner with Adams days later, a rep for Fox confirmed this week. The rep said the topic of horse carriages didn’t come up during the dinner with Adams.
Still, days after the dinner, Adams on Sept. 17 announced his newfound support for a horse carriage ban. In the announcement, Adams, without mentioning Fox’s foundation, said the city’s “open to exploring a new program for electric carriages so New Yorkers and visitors can continue to enjoy the majesty of Central Park.”
David Kanfer, a rep Fox, said he has no financial interest in pushing to replace the horse carriage industry with an electric system because his goal has only been to identify a way to build the vehicles, fund manufacturing and then donate the products.
“Our mission is focused on helping animals and children and supporting those in need,” Kanfer said. “As a non-profit, we are not, and never have been, seeking to profit from our work; our sole focus is making a positive difference in the community.”
Lerner, a director of special projects at Fox’s foundation, told The News this week he didn’t join Fox at the meetings with Mastro and the mayor but acknowledged he continues to work on the electric carriage efforts.
The PAC Lerner helped run raised more than $2.5 million to support Adams’ reelection run. Lerner also helped organize Adams’ “Crypto Summit” at Gracie Mansion this past May.
Since Adams abandoned his reelection bid last weekend amid continued fallout from his dismissed corruption case and surrounding controversies, it’s unclear if he has the political capital to push through a ban before he leaves office Jan. 1. Abolishing carriage horses would require approval from the City Council, where sources say there’s likely not enough appetite to act quickly on a ban.
In public, Adams has explained his abrupt shift on the issue by saying he was moved to act after seeing a video of a Central Park carriage horse breaking loose and running panicked through the streets of Midtown.
But the behind-the-scenes details unearthed by The News show how Adams’ reversal on the horse carriage issue also came right after Fox and at least one other politically-connected pro-carriage ban actor got involved.
carriage horses in New York City
Kathy Willens/AP A horse-drawn carriage in Central Park.
In mid-August, around the same time Fox met with Mastro, Jason Goldman, a senior strategic adviser for Carone’s firm, registered to start lobbying city government officials on behalf of NYCLASS, the main group that has for years advocated for a carriage ban in the city, records reviewed by The News show.
NYCLASS’ founder, real estate executive Steve Nislick, who signed the lobbying contract with Goldman, said Tuesday he has been in touch with Fox as part of the efforts to topple the horse carriage industry.
Goldman, who used to be ex-Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s chief of staff, declined to comment.
Carone, who served as Adams’ reelection campaign head until he dropped out, said Tuesday his 2023 work for Fox focused on developing a marketing scheme for electric carriages. He said he hasn’t worked on Fox’s latest engagements with Adams’ administration or spoken with the businessman in roughly a year.
Carone also said Goldman’s lobbying for Nislick isn’t an Oaktree venture, as he’s doing that work via a separate entity, JMG Strategies, with a particular focus on targeting Council members.
The revelations about the Fox effort are drawing renewed ire from the Transport Workers Union, which represents Central Park’s horse carriage drivers and has accused Adams of stiffing workers to benefit powerful business interests by seeking a ban.
“This is the most unholy of alliances,” Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen told The News this week.
Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak defended the decision by Mastro and the mayor to meet with Fox, saying it was part of efforts to engage with stakeholders on both sides of the issue. Mamelak also said neither the mayor nor Mastro has spoken to Carone about the horse carriage issue this year.
Animal rights groups like Fox’s foundation have long urged the city to outlaw the carriage industry due to concerns about the health and safety of the horses. The Transport Workers Union has countered a ban would deprive its members of their livelihoods while arguing there are ways to ensure the safety of the animals without abolishing the industry, leading to a years-long often acrimonious stalemate between the two sides.
This time around, ban supporters got an opening on Aug. 12 when Adams directed Mastro to explore whether there could be a “better path forward” for the industry. Adams tasked Mastro with that responsibility even though the top City Hall aide used to represent NYCLASS as a private practice attorney, court records show.
The day after Mastro got his assignment, The News has learned he met privately on Aug. 13 with Fox, whose foundation has tried to phase out horse carriage industries in cities across the country, its website says.
Initially, Samuelsen, the Transport Workers Union’s head, said he had expected to meet with Fox and Mastro on Aug. 14 to discuss the state of the industry.
But Samuelsen said the Aug. 14 meeting only ended up including himself and Mastro after Fox emailed he couldn’t make it because of a conflict. Samuelsen said Mastro never told him he had met with Fox the day before their meeting.
In his meeting with Mastro, Fox — who had weeks earlier donated $1,000 to Adams’ reelection campaign on July 5 — advocated for a carriage ban and provided the first deputy with an update on his foundation’s “design and manufacturing” of electric wagons, said Kanfer, Fox’s rep who also attended that sit-down.
“We discussed the possibility of potentially donating [an electric carriage] to the city when it’s finally done to see if it could catch on as a viable alternative,” Kanfer said, though he added the talks didn’t get into any potential city contract for electric carriages.
Mamelak also said there’s been no commitments about a contract for Fox’s foundation or other electric carriage manufacturers.
Days after his Mastro meeting, Fox had his private dinner with Adams, Kanfer said, though he added he couldn’t provide the exact date. Kanfer said there were about 20 other people at the dinner, but wouldn’t identify them.
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