The Transport Workers Union have filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan against NYCLASS.
The charges outlined how NYCLASS has falsely portrayed union-represented Horse-Drawn Carriage Drivers as evil animal abusers through a years-long campaign of malicious lies and misinformation.
NYCLASS’s purposeful lies include statements that the city-licensed Carriage Drivers work their horses to death and even send them to slaughter, as alleged in the court action. These falsehoods have been perpetrated by NYCLASS to solicit support for a proposed horse-carriage ban introduced in the NYC Council (Intro 0967-2024), the lawsuit notes.
The legal complaint details some of the lies that have caused real harm to the Carriage Drivers – approximately 90% of whom are immigrants who came to New York City in pursuit of the American Dream. The money damages requested are based on the decline in the number of rides Carriage Drivers provide and the reduced value of the medallions that some of the Carriage Drivers own. The lawsuit explains how these economic injustices have been caused by the malicious misrepresentations that NYCLASS has disseminated through social media posts, advertising, and statements to the press.
“NYCLASS has promoted a false narrative for far too long,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said. “It has demonized a whole class of workers, mostly immigrants who came to New York City for the American Dream, as animal abusers, and that is absolutely false. The Central Park Horse-Carriage Drivers take good care of their horses, and independent equine veterinarians over the years have consistently attested that to be true. There is no systemic neglect or abuse going on. Period.”
The lawsuit seeks in excess of $1,000,000 in damages, with the final amount to be determined in court.
The TWU represents more than 163,000 workers nationwide in the airline, rail, and transit industries, including the Central Park Carriage Drivers. The Carriage Drivers are part of Local 100, which comprises more than 40,000 workers who operate and maintain the bus and subway systems in NYC.
Founded by real estate developers, NYCLASS, New Yorker’s For Clean, Livable & Safe Streets, is a nonprofit incorporated as a social welfare organization but primarily engages in lobbying and political campaign activities.
