Latest news with #EditaBirnkrant
New York Post
6 days ago
- General
- New York Post
Central Park carriage driver breaks wrist, others injured after two horses break loose: ‘Thankfully I was not killed'
Wild, wild horses dragged these buggies away. A pair of runaway carriage horses broke a driver's wrist and injured others in Central Park on Monday after they got free and bolted — just one week after another horse went rogue, wild videos show. Advertisement 6 A pair of runaway carriage horses took off in Central Park midday Monday. Edita Birnkrant The chaotic escape occurred about 2:30 p.m. when a steed prepared to take on passengers near the Central Park Zoo was spooked and sped off towards 59th Street traffic, Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS, told The Post. The horse, named Shadow, then abruptly veered back into the park and crashed into a fleet of parked pedicabs, Birnkrant said. Advertisement The commotion then panicked a second stallion, causing it to bolt too. There were no passengers aboard either buggy hitched to the animals. 6 Two carriage horses running wild — without drivers — through Central Park on Memorial Day. Edita Birnkrant Dramatic footage of the scene, posted to social media, shows a pedicab driver reining in the horses while panicked coachmen frantically chase after them. Christina Hansen, the union rep for Central Park's carriage horses, told The Post that Shadow — a new horse to the park — was eating beside his 40-year industry veteran driver when he slipped out of his bridle. Advertisement 6 A pedicab driver intercepts a carriage horse running loose in Central Park. Edita Birnkrant The hero pedicab operator — who was the same driver who helped to corral a runaway horse last Sunday — said he intercepted the buggy of the first horse with his bike. He sustained a leg injury from being kicked during the mayhem. 'Thankfully, I was not killed, it was too scary,' said the pedicab driver, who declined to provide his name to The Post. He described how it was 'the second time to see the same thing — to have the horse coming at full speed.' Advertisement 6 'The incident highlights the need for hitching posts to tether idle horses in place,' Hansen said, 'which drivers and the union have requested from the city in previous discussions.' TikTok/@mirandamooney The driver, whose pedicab was flipped over and damaged in the kerfuffle, ended up cycling Shadow's coachman to Mount Sinai West for a broken wrist. Another carriage driver was reportedly kicked in the head, and a third broke their hand. 'The heroic pedicab driver saved people's lives doing what he did and putting himself at risk,' Birnkrant said, adding that the horses must 'definitely be traumatized' and that she would 'be surprised if they didn't have some kind of injuries.' 6 Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS, calling to end the practices of horse carriages in New York City outside City Hall during a rally Wednesday. Paul Martinka Hansen said the incident highlights the need for more hitching posts to tether idle horses, 'which drivers and the union have requested from the city in previous discussions.' However, Birnkrant argued that a hitching post could be easily ripped out by a startled horse — and that it is just another example why the practice should be banned in the Big Apple. It is 'simply a miracle' that nobody was 'killed' in the recent incidents, the animal rights activist said at a rally outside City Hall on Wednesday, before adding, 'but the luck is going to run out.' Advertisement 6 Animal activists stage a die-in outside City Hall on Wednesday in protest of the horse carriage industry. Paul Martinka Meanwhile, animal activists doused themselves in fake blood outside City Hall to demand an end to the carriage horse practice. 'We have had dozens of these runaway horse crashes, horses dropping dead, crashing into vehicles and injuring people,' Birnkrant said. 'Not only is this a deadly industry, but it's extremely dangerous for everyone in Midtown.' Advertisement A spokesperson for City Hall told The Post that the Adams administration is 'dedicated to keeping New Yorkers safe everywhere in our city, which also means keeping our city's animals safe. 'We are looking into this concerning incident,' the rep added.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Dead chickens placed in odd position on ritzy NYC block — sparking ‘animal sacrifice' claims
The chickens didn't cross the road — but still made it to the other side. Two slaughtered chickens were found on an Upper West Side median in an odd position that has activists worried they were killed in an animal sacrifice ritual. The birds were found Saturday lined up with their feet facing at West 89th Street and Broadway less than a year after similar fowl play three blocks away on Broadway and West 92nd Street, local publication West Side Rag reported. '[It] appears to be animal sacrifice to me,' John Di Leonardo, executive director of Humane Long Island, told The Post. 'It's illegal for live slaughter markets to sell live birds to the public but we know they do it often,' he said. 'From Buddhists releasing live animals in Central Park who die if not recovered to birds tied to trees for Santeria in public parks to Shaktis killing pigs near Gateway National Park – to whatever this is.' Edita Birnkrant, of animal advocacy group NYCLASS, said 'it clearly was done purposely and placed in a visible spot. 'They look healthier than the birds usually look at live markets,' she added. 'The nearest live poultry market is in Harlem so I don't know [if] that's the culprit.' By Tuesday, the birds had been removed but not everyone was uneasy about the birds. 'I'm almost kind of glad,' said Harold Steinblatt, a self-described 'frequent bench-sitter' and longtime Upper West Side resident who said the incident sounded 'cultish.' 'That means it's not just all rich hedge fund managers here,' he said. 'Or maybe it was a disgruntled hedge fund manager who was the culprit.' Chickens are the most common sacrifice in the Santeria Afro-Caribbean religion, according to the BBC. The Supreme Court upheld the right to animal sacrifice on religious grounds in 1993 — but according to New York laws, aggravated cruelty to animals is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison. Evidence of sacrificial killings have been reported across the five boroughs, with chickens, pigs and even rats killed in 'twisted' religious rituals in parkland surrounding Jamaica Bay in Queens. In Upper Manhattan, whole dead chickens and cows, as well as fish and eggs, have been found as offerings on crypts at Old Trinity Cemetery, according to Scouting NY. Thousands of chickens are also killed each year in the Big Apple ahead of Yom Kippur during the ultra-orthodox Jewish ritual of Kaporos, which involves slitting a chicken's throat, per ABC New York.
New York Post
27-05-2025
- New York Post
Dead chickens placed in odd position on ritzy NYC block — sparking ‘animal sacrifice' claims
The chickens didn't cross the road — but still made it to the other side. Two slaughtered chickens were found on an Upper West Side median in an odd position that has activists worried they were killed in an animal sacrifice ritual. The birds were found Saturday lined up with their feet facing at West 89th Street and Broadway less than a year after similar fowl play three blocks away on Broadway and West 92nd Street, local publication West Side Rag reported. Advertisement '[It] appears to be animal sacrifice to me,' John Di Leonardo, executive director of Humane Long Island, told The Post. 'It's illegal for live slaughter markets to sell live birds to the public but we know they do it often,' he said. 'From Buddhists releasing live animals in Central Park who die if not recovered to birds tied to trees for Santeria in public parks to Shaktis killing pigs near Gateway National Park – to whatever this is.' Advertisement Edita Birnkrant, of animal advocacy group NYCLASS, said 'it clearly was done purposely and placed in a visible spot. 'They look healthier than the birds usually look at live markets,' she added. 'The nearest live poultry market is in Harlem so I don't know [if] that's the culprit.' A pair of dead chickens were bizarrely found on an Upper West Side curb median on Broadway over the weekend. J.C. Rice Advertisement By Tuesday, the birds had been removed but not everyone was uneasy about the birds. 'I'm almost kind of glad,' said Harold Steinblatt, a self-described 'frequent bench-sitter' and longtime Upper West Side resident who said the incident sounded 'cultish.' 'That means it's not just all rich hedge fund managers here,' he said. 'Or maybe it was a disgruntled hedge fund manager who was the culprit.' Advertisement The dead chickens (not pictured) being found occurred less than a year after another pair were discovered three blocks away, as animal activists believe these are sacrificial killings. Hanoi Photography – Chickens are the most common sacrifice in the Santeria Afro-Caribbean religion, according to the BBC. The Supreme Court upheld the right to animal sacrifice on religious grounds in 1993 — but according to New York laws, aggravated cruelty to animals is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison. Evidence of sacrificial killings have been reported across the five boroughs, with chickens, pigs and even rats killed in 'twisted' religious rituals in parkland surrounding Jamaica Bay in Queens. In Upper Manhattan, whole dead chickens and cows, as well as fish and eggs, have been found as offerings on crypts at Old Trinity Cemetery, according to Scouting NY. Thousands of chickens are also killed each year in the Big Apple ahead of Yom Kippur during the ultra-orthodox Jewish ritual of Kaporos, which involves slitting a chicken's throat, per ABC New York.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Activists accuse NYC shops of selling ‘sickly' chickens in scramble before bird-flu shutdown
It's a fowl business. Animal activists accused several Brooklyn and Queens markets of selling 'sickly-looking' live chickens as they scrambled to clear inventory before a state-mandated shutdown due to the bird flu. Animal advocacy group NYCLASS shared disturbing pictures they say show TIBA in Ridgewood, Queens selling three 'visibly sickly-looking' Cornish cross-breed chickens with significant feather loss — one of three markets in the city they said exhibited stomach-turning conditions in recent days. 'I absolutely do suspect that many of these birds could and most likely do have avian flu,' NYCLASS executive director Edita Birnkrant told The Post, though the markets have not had any birds with positive tests. 'There's only been a handful of testing done, [and] there are 80 markets with thousands and thousands of birds delivered every single week. Everybody is just flying blindly.' Kikiriki Live Poultry, Inc. and Pio Pio Poultry, both in Bushwick, were also said to be keeping the birds in poor conditions in the weekend ahead of the shutdown. The birds shown in the images were crammed into too-crowded cages with several chickens appearing to be dying, Birnkrant claimed. An executive order issued Friday by Gov. Kathy Hochul mandated all live poultry markets in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County to temporarily shut until Feb. 14 after seven local cases of bird flu were discovered in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. The shops found to have infected birds were ordered to be 'depopulated,' sanitized and reopened after successful inspections. Shops without positive bird flu cases were told to sell down all their inventory until Monday, then disinfect and stay shuttered for at least five days while state officials inspect the businesses. Birnkrant, however, contends Monday's shutdown is far too late to be effective. 'This is all outrageously reckless. Governor Hochul must close these markets down immediately and for the foreseeable future until the bird flu crisis is manageable,' she said in a statement. 'Merely opening the markets back up in five days guarantees that shipments of more birds infected with bird flu from factory farms will end up in cages again.' TIBA was closed Sunday with empty cages and a sign on the door saying it would reopen on Feb. 14. Pio Pio Poultry was closed to the public on Sunday, with employees hosing down the store and funneling the runoff into the street. Two workers at Kikiriki Live Poultry, Inc. in Bushwick, Brooklyn, which was still open Sunday, told The Post that business has increased since Friday's executive announcement, and its inventory of dozens of live chickens at the store were expected to be sold off by closing. 'All the chickens will be gone by the end of the day, they usually are,' one worker said, adding they were to close at 6 p.m. Sunday and open again on Feb. 15. The same worker said Kikiriki doesn't test its flock for bird flu, and testing is instead handled by farmers and state inspectors. Kikiriki was issued a warning notice by the USDA's Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit in October 2022, though it was unclear what the violation was for or if it was ever remedied. Watchdogs found at least one chicken at that establishment with a bloody wound 'down to the bone' during a previous visit, Birnkrant said. There are 67 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans in the US, the CDC said, with over 150 million poultry and nearly 960 dairy herds also affected as of Thursday. The New York City Health Department has told exposed individuals to monitor for signs of illness, which could range from a fever, cough and sore throat or vomiting and severe respiratory disease. The news comes as over a dozen ducks and wild birds died at a pair of New York City zoos, The Post previously reported. The parks all remain open, as officials said little risk is posed to humans. 'Live animal markets should be banned not only for the sheer cruelty of forcing sickly animals to live out their final days crammed in cages and filth but also for the serious public health risks they pose,' said Queens City Council member Bob Holden, whose jurisdiction includes Ridgewood. 'With avian flu on the rise, there is no justification for allowing these markets to operate in residential neighborhoods in a dense urban setting,' Holden added. Birnkrant said her watchdogs' tour of area live markets on Saturday parallels visits made in January of last year, which found birds in overcrowded cages being cannibalized. 'When they open back up next week, they're gonna be getting the same sick birds from the same factory farms in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and upstate New York,' Birnkrant warned. 'Nothing will have changed.'
