LOWER EAST SIDE — A new police unit is taking the reins from the 7th Precinct’s horse patrols in a nightlife-heavy section of the neighborhood.
For the past few years, mounted police units have worked late-night weekend shifts to address complaints caused by rowdy revelers in the bar-saturated area between Houston and Delancey streets from Allen to Essex streets dubbed “Hell Square.”
But now, a new NYPD unit made up of three sergeants and 16 officers borough-wide will take over, said Capt. Steven Hellman, the commanding officer of the 7th Precinct. The unit will focus on patrolling notorious nightlife hotspots in the Manhattan South area, including Hell's Square, he said.
The change comes less than two months after a Swedish woman sued the NYPD because a horse bit off part of her finger, according to Bowery Boogie, which first reported the end of the horse patrols.
The new unit was welcome news to Diem Boyd of the L.E.S. Dwellers, a neighborhood group that has been asking the police to remove the mounted police units and increase foot patrols instead.
Boyd said the horses did not deter rowdy bar patrons from making noise or getting into fights. In fact, she said, the horses sometimes drew crowds of late-night visitors.
“It is a petting zoo at night,” she said. “Unfortunately many people love horses and usually visitors want to take pictures and pet them.”
Residents also complained about the piles of horse poop they encountered each Sunday morning, Boyd said, which were never picked up by the city.
Boyd said she was encouraged by the change.
“We feel like that’s a more positive thing,” she said.
