By Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — A Central Park carriage driver pleaded guilty to operating a horse-drawn carriage while under the influence, the ASPCA said on Tuesday.
Saverio Colarusso, of Queens, who operates out of a stable on West 38th Street, was given a $175 fine and a 30-day suspension of his carriage driver's license, the agency said.
He was busted in January when a Humane Law Enforcement agent spotted him drinking a beer and a number of empty bottles were found in his carriage, the ASPCA reported.
His sentence was handed down March 3 by the Department of Consumer Affairs.
This is not the first time Colarusso has appeared before the DCA.
Back in December, he was fined $500 for failing to provide and maintain a daily log and for not having lighted lamps on the side of his carriage. Carriage drivers are required to turn on lights a half-hour after sunset, according to the DCA decision.
In 2004, he was fined $350 for driving his carriage through city streets at unauthorized times, the DCA ruled. He was seen driving the carriage at West 49th Street on Seventh Avenue at 10:50 p.m., but carriages are not permitted on city streets between 9 a.m. and 11:30 p.m.
