Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

You Told Us: Should a Central Park Building Be Used as a Horse Stable?

By Emily Frost | February 1, 2016 3:36pm
 The 86th Street Shops building is a proposed site for conversion into a horse carriage stable, but residents and preservationists don't like the plan for taking a public building and converting it for private use.
The 86th Street Shops building is a proposed site for conversion into a horse carriage stable, but residents and preservationists don't like the plan for taking a public building and converting it for private use.
View Full Caption
LANDMARK WEST!

You Told Us is a regular feature highlighting comments from users in the communities DNAinfo covers.

UPPER WEST SIDE — Under a plan proposed by the de Blasio administration, a historic building that houses about 40 Parks Department workers would get an estimated $25 million renovation to turn it into a stable for the horse-carriage industry. 

The West 86th Street Shops — a building along the West 86th Street transverse that stands next to the Great Lawn — is the administration's top pick for the stable under a plan to limit horse carriages exclusively to Central Park.

But preservationists and locals have objected to the appropriation of public property for private use and an expensive alteration to the more than 100-year-old building. 

Some readers thought re-purposing the building as a stable made sense:

► "The building was originally built as a stables. This proposal is returning it to its historic origins. Any changes to the facade will be reviewed by Landmarks Preservation Commission," said a Neighborhood Square commenter. 

► "...Trails such as the bridle path adjacent to the Reservoir are made of hard, packed dirt and are as perfect for horseback riding. Moving the carriage horses into this building would bring horses back into Central Park and keep them off NYC crowded streets. This would be safer and more pleasant for the horses and tourists would enjoy a relaxing ride through Central Park," added another Neighborhood Square user.

► "Restore and leave it as a landmark," suggested a Facebook commenter. 

Others called it a shortsighted "land grab" that isn't mindful of potential repercussions:

► "I think it's a hasty, slap-dash plan by the mayor trying to railroad the horses out of their current stables and ultimately out of business, and he doesn't care who he has to hurt (pedicab owners and drivers), who he has to run over (the Park Preservationists) or who's going to pay for it (the taxpayers)," said a Neighborhood Square user.

► "This deal is a land grab. The owner of the stables donated quite a bit of money to deblasio's campaign in 2013. Now it's payback time, in the form of the stables," another Neighborhood Square commenter noted.

► "It's just an excuse to set a precedent to start more building in the park...Central park has had wealthier protectors, but if any opportunity can be found to get in, the dam will burst, and you'll be seeing trendy restaurants and mini-malls all over the park before you know it," said a Facebook commenter.

At least one person noted that private companies running public entities in Central Park is nothing new:

► "The parks have numerous private concessionaires, from restaurants to hot dog carts to the people who run concerts," wrote a Neighborhood Square commenter. "For decades the Claremont Stables provided saddle horses for the park. This is a teapot tempest." 

Subscribe to DNAinfo's Upper West Side podcast: