By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — An Upper West Side community board wants to rein in the city's plan to bring horseback riding back to Central Park.
Community Board 7's parks committee this week asked the Parks Department to hold off on awarding a seven-year contract to a horseback riding business that would rent horses and lead trail rides in the park.
Horses have been scarce in Central Park since the famed Claremont Riding Academy closed in 2007, but the Parks Department wants to change that.
"The bridle trails were built for riding," Parks Department Director of Concesssions Charles Kloth told Community Board 7's parks committee. "They're one of our constituents and we wanted to provide that opportunity."
But board members said the horse-free trails have been a pleasure to use, and they questioned the value of devoting public park space to such an expensive sport.
Trail rides would probably cost between $50 and $125 an hour, said a Parks employee at Community Board 7's parks committee meeting this week.
"Why are you doing this? The park has been 10 times better for so many users without the horses," asked Community Board 7 chair Mel Wymore at the meeting, adding that he runs regularly on the bridle trails.
Community Board 7 member Klari Neuwelt said she started to walk on the bridle paths for the first time after the horses left. "Knowing that you're not having horses follow you has made a huge difference," Neuwelt said.
But some locals disagreed, saying that they've missed the horses and want the picturesque pastime back in the park.
"I think they're beautiful and that's what the bridle path is there for," said resident Joan Bondell of West 94th Street and Central Park West. Bondell, who said she's been running on the bridle paths for 35 years, said she's never had an unpleasant encounter with a horse.
"It was nice seeing them out there," Bondell said. "It seemed like everyone got along just fine."
Bondell said she's never ridden a horse in Central Park, but she and others at the meeting said the graceful animals enhanced the park's natural beauty.
"I really like seeing them in the park," said resident Olive Freud. "You're talking about separating people from nature. City people should be exposed to horses."
Wymore said he doesn't want to ban horses altogether from the park, but hopes to work out a compromise that will let equestrian users trot happily alongside joggers and others.
"There's not a fundamental opposition to having horses in the park, as much as it is making sure we are sharing the public space," Wymore said. "We don't want the bridle path to be monopolized by the few elite who can afford it."
The community board has no formal say in whether the Parks Department can award the contract, but Kloth said he would take the comments into consideration.
Upper West Siders have a track record of halting Parks Department plans they don't like. Last year a grassroots movement stopped Parks from covering Central Park tennis courts with climate-controlled bubbles.
