It is not easy to unite the editorial boards of The New York Times, New York Post and Daily News, labor unions and public — 64 percent want to keep the carriage horses — but Mayor Bill de Blasio has done it.
All oppose his plan to ban the horse-drawn cabs New Yorkers, as well as tourists from all over the world, have come to identify as a classic New York experience. There is nothing like that ride through Central Park.
Here is one more reason: It would have a disparate impact on Catholics.
On Dec. 31, on the eve of his becoming mayor, I criticized de Blasio for his pledge to ban the carriage horses from New York. I cited his preference for protecting horses over unborn babies. I was subsequently contacted by an official in the carriage horse profession who informed me that this business is dominated by Catholics.
Indeed, I was told by this person, in the Horse & Carriage Association of New York City, that “the horse and carriage industry in NYC is overwhelmingly Catholic, [and] by the way, the bulk of our folks being from Ireland, Italy, Brazil and Latin America.”
It would be unfair to accuse Mayor de Blasio of intentionally discriminating against Catholics for his advocacy of this proposal, and I am not attributing bias to him.
On the other hand, he is an opponent of public policies that have a disparate impact on demographic groups. Indeed, last month he hailed an agreement between the city and minority firefighters who belong to the Vulcan Society. The latter charged that the existing civil service exams for firefighter applicants has a disparate impact on African Americans and Hispanics.
Well, banning the horse carriage industry would have a disparate impact on Catholics. We ask the mayor to reconsider his proposal.
Bill Donohue
President
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
Manhattan
