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The documentary “Blinders”, by Danny Moss was screened last Wednesday by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the actor Alec Baldwin. The 52-minute documentary starts innocently enough with the gentle clip-clopping of hooves and the excited reaction from tourists.  (Oaky, the tourists do appear a bit demented, but that could just be coincidence.)  It then goes on to recount recent accidents with some gruesome shots of a horse lying in the street just after an accident.  There follows a series of harrowing stories depicting the horrible treatment of these poor animals.

It would seem inevitable that this antiquated, brutal industry must be banned, as it has been in cities all over the world, from London to Beijing.  The fact that the People’s Republic of China has proscribed this practice and the great city of New York has not should be telling enough.  The next screening is not scheduled until August, but I am trying to find out if another showing can be organized before then.  This is a movie all New Yorkers should watch.

In the past year I have commented several times on the Horse Drawn Carriage industry as it is carried out in New York.  Initially I was of the opinion that it was a more or less innocent tradition that provided a colorful way to tour New York and Central Park.  During the past few months I’ve been forced to confront the awful truth of the matter - that, no matter how quaint or traditional, there is no defense for making horses live in squalid cells and have to walk through traffic behind buses and trucks.   That’s without even considering the accidents that occur.

In the interests of fair play and public discourse I have posted both sides of the argument in the comments below each posting.  The last one resulted in me being called “stupid”, “ignorant” and, my favorite, a “humaniac”.  The fact that these comments were sent within an hour of my posting would indicate that the industry is employing a veritable herd of PR flacks whose job it is to address every affront to the industry, even one as innocuous as my last observation.  My favorite was the comment by Michaleen Flynn, a sobriquet conjuring the image of the lovable character played by Barry Fitzgerald in the move “The Quiet Man”.  This apparently is supposed to lend some sort of authenticity to his homey Irish comments.  I offered this person the opportunity to be interviewed for this website and present his side of the story.  He refused, excusing himself out of fear of reprisal to himself and his family.

Right.

I think he refused because he can’t be interviewed, and he can’t be interviewed because he is a fictitious character.  Another part of a PR machine desperate to protect an outdated industry.  You can also find a video on YouTube that is sponsored by the carriage industry. In fairness I encourage people to watch it as well.  The interesting thing about their movie is there are no outdoor shots of the stables the horses live in.  Hmm, wonder why.

SummerStage offers one of the most amazingly enjoyable ways to spend a summer evening in Central Park.  It offers a lineup of talent that is so exuberantly varied that even the most eclectic of tastes can find something suitably obscure and cool (and I mean obscure and cool like discovering the Bird and the Bee before your other downtown friends, not Norwegian rap groups.)  It is also almost always free, which is great, especially when you imagine the diversity in the possible environments that manifest in Central Park during mid-summer: balmy, breezy, starry skies vs. overcast terrarium.

Click here for a pdf of the full schedule as well as helpful tips.

Since the closing of the Claremont Stables last year the Parks Department has had to haul its horses in a trailer from a stable at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.  The closing has also greatly diminished the department’s mounted patrol units and rendered scarce one of Central Park’s most charming images, the horse and rider.

To remedy this situation the Parks Department plans to build a one-story brick stable, to house five horses, near the Central Park Zoo, at Fifth Avenue and 63rd Street. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the plan on April 8. Construction of the stable is expected to begin this summer and be completed by the fall.

It is encouraging to note that the Parks Department horses will be cared for in a responsible and humane way, thus sparing the animals the stress of having to be schlepped back and forth to the Bronx everyday.  It will also be wonderful to have the animals be more of a presence in the park, one of the lovliest, most pastoral of images of Central Park is a horse and rider ambling gracefully along the bridle path.

The problem is this will present an even more stark and disturbing contrast to the treatment of the carriage horses that glumly trudge along Central Park South less than a hundred yards away.  They don’t have to worry about a ride to Van Cortlandt Park, they get to walk back to their garage through traffic.  Doesn’t seem quite fair, does it?

The full SummerStage performance schedule has been announced and will include concerts by Mavis Staples, Sharon Jones, CSN and others already disclosed.  While the annual festival always has an eclectic blend of artists this year’s lineup is possibly the strongest to date with Blues legend Taj Mahal, brilliant jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove and Los Lobos heading the list.  Okay, heading my list, but there is certainly something here for everyone’s musical and literary tastes

 The remainder of its 32 free performances: Vampire Weekend with Kid Sister (June 14); the French-Israeli singer Yael Naim (June 22); Vieux Farka Touré and Fallou Dieng  (June 28); Rachid Taha and Dengue Fever (July 5); dance with Rennie Harris/Puremovement (July 11); the novelist Junot Díaz (July 17); Santogold with Diplo (July 20); Skatalites with Taj Mahal (July 27); Richard Price (July 31); Roy Hargrove (Aug. 2); Los Lonely Boys with Los Lobos (Aug. 14); Battles and Black Dice (Aug. 16); and Ms. Jones (Aug. 17). Among the six paid benefit shows are Mark Knopfler (July 23); Crosby, Stills and Nash (July 29); and Sonny Rollins (Aug. 6).

A noir thriller, based on actual events that transpired in Dublin, Ireland in the 1950’s was performed last week (3/19 - 3/29) in Central Park.  But it wasn’t staged at the Delacorte, and it certainly wasn’t enacted by marionettes in the Swedish Cottage.  It was performed in the Men’s and Ladies’ toilets at Bethesda Terrace - and the not so subtle allegory of using the public bathrooms in a play depicting the moral hypocrisy of public officials could not have come at a more topical moment in New York history.

And while the surroundings might have been somewhat off putting, Irish director and playwright Paul Walker found the damp, chill and somewhat noisome interiors to be a critical component in the the theatergoing experience.

In “Ladies & Gents,” his prize winning play, the action takes place near the sinks and urinals; the audience stands, clustered in front of the row of stalls. Each of the two pieces that comprise the play runs simultaneously in both bathrooms, and it doesn’t matter the order in which they are seen; the audience splits in half and switches facilities at intermission.

Walker and Karl Shiels, the artistic director of the experimental Dublin theater troop Semper Fi, decided an actual bathroom was the best place to stage the play. The space is intimate, dark and uncomfortable. In fact theater-goers are further disoriented by being split up, any obvious couple or groups be sent to different facilities to view the play in the opposite order. ”When you take the audience out of their comfort zone, there’s a different energy to the production,” he said.

The production is spellbinding, with the actors (especially Laoisa  Sexton as the prostitute) giving compelling performances in a challenging venue.  At 20 minutes per scene the acts are just long enough to engage, but not long enough to make the audience uncomfortable.  It was easily one of the most interesting and entertaining evenings I’ve ever spent in the park.

It also gave headline writers in the New York tabloids just too much of a good thing.  How they must wrestled with the themselve to use the absolute worst possible puns;

 New York Post - Urinal for an Experience

New York Daily News - Heady intrigue? Skip to the loo with ‘Ladies and Gents’

The Times (not to be out done) - Stalls for Scandal, Men’s and Women’s, No Waiting

Makes you wonder just how bad the ones were that didn’t make it.

In search of - after a persistent, if not particulary cruel, winter I found myself possessed of an overwhelming need to see that spring was somewhere in the not too distant future.  I needed to assure myself of March’s lanolin enriched exit.

After much roaming about the sides of the bridle path around the reservoir, where a crocus or two can usually be found peaking out by this time of year, I had come away empty.  I then remembered where The first snowdrops are always sure to appear and headed up to the Conservatory Garden.  Sure enough, my search was rewarded by the delicately hardy little blossoms.

Take a minute to check out the new Blossom Schedule on CentralPark.com and find out when your favorite flowers will be appearing in the park.

On Valentine’s Day approximately 40 anti horse-drawn carriage demonstrators gathered near Grand Army Plaza to voice their opposition to the industry.  According to the industry spokeswoman Carolyn Daly the animal rights activists are just a “fringe group”. “The horses are in excellent condition,” she is quoted in the New York Times. “We’ve never had a cruelty violation. We have an impeccable safety record and it’s a popular, popular tourist attraction.”
This dismissive attitude Ms. Daly is extremely troubling. If there is an impeccable record why were there ridiculous inconsistencies found during an oversight audit last September?  It is one thing to have a difference of opinion - it is yet another to just be completely obtuse. 

TripAdvisor recently announced the top 10 places in America to propose, according to travelers and editors, and according to them the single best place in the country to pop the question is New York’s very own Central Park.   According to one TripAdvisor traveler, “I got proposed to right next to the lake in Central Park, near the fountain! It was perfect and I have such happy memories of that days.”  Awwww.

Well besides actually proposing, which is certainly an extreme measure, the celebration of Valentine’s Day offers a great opportunity to take advantage of some of the park’s most romantic locations.  Yes, I know, it’s winter, but what could be more romantic than a spin around Wollman Rink?  Remember the movie Serendipity?  (It was perhaps the most memorable scene in the movie.)   So, to commemorate Central Park’s wonderfully romantic nature we’re taking a poll of your favorite romantic spots around the park.  Let us know what you think.

After a few weeks of impassioned, and enlightening, comments on my Horse Controversy post I must say that my position has changed.  While I still like the idea of the horses being confined to giving rides in a carless Central Park, I admit that finding them viable lodging near the park would be challenging, if not impossible.  And if they still had to travel to work through traffic, they would still be in jeopardy.  However I do think that if the Mayor seriously wants this industry to continue he should find a way for acceptable stabling to be created.  What if the horses were transported back and forth from the park in vans, instead of travelling through traffic?  The City of New York must find a way for these horses to work safely, otherwise he practice should definitely be banned.