{"id":285783,"date":"2025-10-08T06:04:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T06:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/285783\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T06:04:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T06:04:35","slug":"nyc-transit-union-preparing-to-sue-adams-donors-top-aide-over-push-to-ban-horse-carriages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/285783\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC transit union preparing to sue Adams’ donors, top aide over push to ban horse carriages"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u2019s largest transit union is making preparations to launch legal action against Mayor Adams\u2019 top aide, Randy Mastro, and several other politically-connected individuals over their efforts to ban the city\u2019s horse carriage industry.<\/a><\/p>\n

A lawyer for the Transport Workers Union<\/a>, which advocates for city horse carriage drivers and opposes a ban, disclosed its plans to sue in letters sent this week to Mastro and the others. The letters, copies of which were obtained by the Daily News, claim Mastro and the others have been involved in a \u201cdeceptive enterprise,\u201d though they don\u2019t go into detail about the allegations. The letters demand the recipients preserve records related to their push to outlaw the carriage industry.<\/p>\n

The missives were issued after The News reported last week<\/a> that Josh Fox, a Florida businessman, met privately with Adams and Mastro days before the mayor on Sept. 17 came out in favor of a City Council bill that\u2019d abolish the industry, reversing his previous opposition to such a ban.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, left, speaks alongside Mayor Eric Adams during a press conference at City Hall on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Fox, an Adams campaign donor, runs the Hunter Brady Foundation, an animal rights group that has sought to manufacture electric carriages that\u2019 could replace Central Park\u2019s horse-drawn buggies. A top executive at Fox\u2019s foundation is Eric Lerner, another Adams donor who helped run the largest super PAC that supported the mayor\u2019s reelection bid<\/a> before he abandoned it last month.<\/p>\n

In his letters, the TWU attorney, Mark Richard, wrote the union believes Fox, Lerner, their foundation and NYCLASS<\/a>, the animal rights group that has spearheaded efforts to ban the horse industry, may have engaged in \u201cpossible misrepresentation, improper fundraising, deception of donors and lobbying violations\u201d as part of their anti-carriage push.<\/p>\n

Citing an investigation by the union, Richard wrote in the letters that the TWU also suspects involvement by Mastro, NYCLASS executives Steve Nislick and Edita Birnrkrant, lobbyists Corey Johnson and Jason Goldman as well as two City Council members, Bob Holden<\/a> and Erik Bottcher<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Holden and Bottcher introduced the Council bill that would sunset the carriage industry, while Goldman has represented NYCLASS as a lobbyist. Johnson, an ex-Council speaker who used to employ Goldman as his chief of staff, has been lobbying for the Central Park Conservancy, which came out in support of a horse carriage ban in August.<\/p>\n

Asked to elaborate on his union\u2019s findings, TWU International President John Samuelsen said he \u201cstrongly believes\u201d there\u2019s an effort afoot to \u201cmonetize the cessation the Central Park horse carriages, through real estate development and the procurement of electric touring vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard said all the individuals referenced in his letters as well as \u201cother consultants and lobbyists\u201d are expected to be named as defendants in the suit, which he added is likely to be filed \u201cin New York and\/or Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank Carone, Adams\u2019 longtime political confidant, worked for Fox in 2023<\/a> to get his electric carriage plan in front of city officials. Carone wasn\u2019t mentioned in Richard\u2019s letters.<\/p>\n

\"FrankFrank Carone attends the 2022 Sandy Hook Promise Benefit at The Ziegfeld Ballroom on Dec. 6, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Johnson, Goldman, Holden and Bottcher didn\u2019t comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n

In response to the TWU letter, Jami Schlicher, a spokeswoman for Fox\u2019s foundation, said his group has had \u201cnumerous meetings\u201d with TWU reps and \u201cremains committed to maintaining an open and constructive dialogue on this issue\u201d and hopes \u201cto continue collaborating to achieve a fair and workable compromise for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mastro, who represented NYCLASS as a lawyer before becoming Adams\u2019 first deputy mayor this year, referred to City Hall spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak, who called the TWU legal threat \u201cfrivolous and an obvious PR stunt by a campaign that\u2019s getting more desperate every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than 70% of New Yorkers agree that it\u2019s time to end horse carriages for the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and animals alike,\u201d Mamelak said, citing recent polling. \u201cLet\u2019s tune out this noise, follow Mayor Adams\u2019 lead, and get it done as a matter of public safety and the humane treatment of these magnificent animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birnrkrant, NYCLASS\u2019 executive director, echoed Mamelak, saying Richard\u2019s letters are \u201cclearly meant to intimidate and silence the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor several weeks TWU leadership has been running a desperate intimidation campaign straight out of Donald Trump\u2019s playbook \u2014 full of bullying, unhinged lies and misinformation,\u201d said Birnkrant, whose group recently accused<\/a> Samuelsen of defaming NYCLASS.<\/p>\n

Animal rights advocates have pressed for years to abolish the carriage industry over concerns about the horses\u2019 health. The TWU says an end to the industry would deprive its members of their livelihoods while arguing there are ways to ensure horse safety without a ban.<\/p>\n

Before he became mayor, Adams said in 2021 he would oppose an outright ban.<\/p>\n

But last month \u2014 less than two weeks before he dropped his reelection bid<\/a> amid continued fallout from his corruption indictment \u2014 Adams announced he backs a ban and urged the Council to pass the Holden-Bottcher bill. In explaining his reversal, Adams said he was moved to act by a video of a carriage horse breaking loose and running panicked through Central Park.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 7, 2025 at 3:57 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s largest transit union is making preparations to launch legal action against Mayor Adams\u2019 top aide, Randy…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":285784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,141386,147127,147131,5289,147132,147128,147129,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,147130,88618,98663,90195,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-285783","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-brady-hunter-foundation","10":"tag-corey-johnson","11":"tag-edita-birnrkrant-steve-nislick","12":"tag-eric-adams","13":"tag-erik-bottcher","14":"tag-jason-goldman-randy-mastro","15":"tag-josh-fox-and-eric-lerner","16":"tag-new-york","17":"tag-new-york-city","18":"tag-newyork","19":"tag-newyorkcity","20":"tag-ny","21":"tag-nyc","22":"tag-nyclass","23":"tag-robert-holden","24":"tag-transport-workers-union","25":"tag-twu","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-united-states-of-america","28":"tag-unitedstates","29":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","30":"tag-us","31":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115337040381633828","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}