Union launches vicious $1M ad campaign against Eric Adams’ push for NYC horse carriage ban

The union representing horse carriage riders has launched a $1 million ad blitz through the November election slamming Mayor Eric Adams and others for attempting to ban the horse carriage industry.

“Eric Adams stabbed us in the back,” fumed Transport Workers Union president John Samuelsen.

Samuelsen said Adams’ sudden turn against the carriage industry doesn’t pass the smell test, especially since First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro used to represent the leading animal rights, anti-carriage group — New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS.

TWU Local 100, which reps the 170 horse carriage riders and other industry workers — many of whom are immigrants — endorsed Adams’ successful 2021 bid for mayor. Overall, the influential union represents 41,000 mostly city subway and rail workers and bus drivers.

Some of the TWU ads are appearing in The Post.

“Ambassador Adams? What a joke. You’re a disgrace. You’re not even fit to be an ambassador to Alcatraz,” said one TWU ad, showing an image of a smiling Adams donning a sash as “Ambassador to Turkey” — a dig at his dealings with Turkish interests, part of a dismissed federal criminal indictment.

“You’re an untrustworthy backstabbing rat.”

Adams signed an executive order last week to phase out the horse carriage industry, expressing concern about the “welfare of horses” moving in traffic.

He also urged the City Council to approve a law to ban carriage rides in and around Central Park, a tourist attraction for decades.

The council is now considering Ryder’s Law — named after a horse who collapsed and died — which aims to ban the carriages, but it has been stuck in the health committee since last summer.

But Samuelsen, noting the corruption scandals that have engulfed the Adams’ administration, is not buying the mayor’s sudden interest for the welfare of horses, which he maintains are well cared for.

“Randy Mastro has a deep connection to the monied interests that support NYCLASS,” Samuelsen said.

City Hall said Samuelsen’s barbs were offensive, but confirmed — as NYCLASS did — that Mastro previously represented the animal rights group before 2019.

“Mayor Adams stands with the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers who support banning horse-drawn carriages — not with these obscene and baseless claims,” an Adams spokesperson said.

One poll conducted by animal rights groups claimed 71% of New Yorkers support a horse carriage ban.

“This misinformation being pushed doesn’t change the facts: these carriages are dangerous for everyday New Yorkers,” the spokesperson said. “What’s especially disappointing is that this claim ignores our commitment to supporting carriage drivers through the transition, including identifying new employment opportunities.

“The safety and health risks, to both the public and the horses, are well-documented and cannot be ignored,” the spokesperson continued.

“That’s why we’re moving forward with real solutions, not distractions.”

Aside from Adams, the other three major candidates running for mayor in November are also on record supporting a horse carriage ban.

Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani has supported the ban as have Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa — who also is running on the “Protect Animals” ballot line — and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running on the independent “Fight and Deliver” ballot line.

Previous Mayor Bill de Blasio also wanted to phase out horse carriages but opposition in the City Council blocked any action.

Meanwhile, a NYCLASS rep told The Post its sending a cease-and-desist letter to Samuelsen and the head of TWU local 100, John Chiarello, to stop the “wild lies and defamation that they’re constantly putting out on social media, their own website and to the media.

“It’s outrageous that John Samuelsen and TWU are blowing $1 million in workers’ hard-earned dues to attack the mayor for standing up against animal abuse,” NYCLASS spokesperson Edith Birnkrant said.

“When is the last time TWU spent $1 million making buses and subways safer for their own members?”

“Instead, they’re doing the dirty work of a handful of wealthy carriage horse owners—bosses who misclassify carriage drivers, deny them basic worker rights, and exploit both workers and animals,” Birnkrant said.

“This isn’t about protecting working people, it’s about protecting a cruel, corrupt industry, and transit workers should be furious that their money is being wasted on it.”

Adams last week said the horse-drawn carriages are relics of old New York that “no longer work for our city” after four carriage horses ran wild in three separate incidents through the park this summer.

“While horse-drawn carriages have long been an iconic fixture of Central Park, they are increasingly incompatible with the conditions of a modern, heavily-used urban green space,” the mayor said.