More Tales of the Weird in Hell's Kitchen

This chilly afternoon I found myself in the badlands of W. 45th Street, home to the sad-looking Shamrock Stables. It was around 4:30 pm and a carriage driver was stuck in traffic as he headed west to 11th Avenue. (This north-south speedway is one of the scary and congested routes that the horses must travel on their way to Central Park for the night shift.)

The driver got antsy trying to weave in and out of traffic, so he steered his horse up onto the crumbling sidewalk to get into prime position to turn right onto 11th. Perhaps he deemed this strategy the lesser of two evils, since the Metropolitan Lumber workers were zipping around the other side of the street on a forklift. The white horse soldiered on, pulling the white carriage. I said a prayer under my breath, knowing how far they still had to travel in Friday afternoon traffic.

Support a ban on horse-drawn carriages in New York City. Support Intro. 658, and ask your City Council representative to do the same. This measure cannot move forward without broad support.
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Coming up: Pop quiz! Which horses have to travel the farthest to and from work? We'll map their routes at www.MapmyRun.com

Ian McKeever

Aye, that's a good laddie. I just like saying his name.
Ian McKeever's stables are looking a little different these days (at least from the outside). I can't quite put my finger on what the transformation is. I'll have to think on that.

The ever-articulate Mr. McKeever is an erstwhile spokesman for the industry, from the days before the golden-tongued Ms. Daly signed on to be a spokeswoman. It could be said that they're cut from the same bolt. In this blethering New York Post article from October 2007, Mr. McKeever calls the activists "extremists" and "idiots." Ms. Daly's word of choice is "extremist." She likes this word a lot.

You know the way that journalists and late-night comics love George W. Bush? I love Ian and Carolyn.

In seriousness, the players are inconsequential except for the horses.
Support Intro. 658, the bill to ban horse-drawn carriages in New York City.

Hey, Good Looking!

And suddenly the memory revealed itself
Always the urban pioneer, I found myself walking across W. 45th St. on the evening of St. Patrick's Day. Between 10th and 11th Avenues, even. And there it was: Shamrock Stables. It looks different to me, in recent weeks. Seems spiffy! (I know, difficult to tell.) Maybe it's my fevered imagination, but it looks cleaner. Whitewashed, even. Reminds me of something.

Oh, now I remember. It reminds me of how China is "cleaning up" ahead of the Olympic games.

Read a recipe that I came across for making your own whitewash, which the authors say gives barns a real "neat and clean" feel.

If you visit New York, visit Hell's Kitchen (now Clinton). Still the grittiest and most authentic NYC neighborhood, it's now in danger of being too darn trendy. That water, that sunset, that barbed wire, that marijuana stench. It's the neighborhood of choice for the horse stables.

NY Sun: "The Objective Standard"? Oh, My!

Truth is stranger than fiction...

The editorialist at The New York Sun dismisses Councilman Avella's courageous legislation as "horse pucky." (Oh, no, he didn't! Yes, seriously!) This assertion would appear to be based on a letter from the ever-quotable Shamrock Stables owner, Ian McKeever, who has taken to calling Mr. Avella "a horse's ass." In a recent letter to the Sun, Mr. McKeever is said to have described the carriage horses as being in "excellent health and condition," according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and "our own independent veterinarians." That's good enough evidence for the Sun, it seems, to throw its full support behind this cash-only business that the city also endorses. (Say, what's the latest on Cornelius Byrne, who was arrested on charges of offering a bribe to an official to overlook seven violations at Mr. Byrne's stable?)

In the interest of accuracy, Mr. McKeever's statement requires clarification. In 2007, the ASPCA fully supports the ban that is proposed by Councilman Avella, as does the Humane Society of the United States and a host of other respected humane organizations. These decisions are not made lightly and are based on a review of best available evidence that in 2007 is incontrovertible.

Depending on who is speaking, a visit that Mr. Avella made to Shamrock Stables about two years ago is described in very different terms. Mr. McKeever takes every available opportunity to recount his recollection of the visit by Mr. Avella: "He was very happy and had nothing negative to say." Councilman Avella sharply dismissed that assertion; he calls it a "total lie." On that visit, Mr. Avella said recently, he visited stables, inspected conditions, and submitted follow-up questions that he says were never answered.