Chris Harstin 🇺🇦

[Animal Rights News @theirturn]

Today, the NYC Council voted to ban horse-drawn carriages. Assuming the Mayor signs the bill into law, the ban will take effect in June 2028.

Among the many unsung heroes of this 20 year effort are two NYC Council Members who carried the bills when doing so cost them politically. They should be recognized because they placed the humane treatment of animals and public safety ahead of political expediency.

In 2007, Council Member @TonyAvella introduced the first bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. Despite the fact that Speaker Christine Quinn blocked the bill, Mr. Avella kept the issue alive and in the public discourse until the end of his term.

In 2022, Council Member @BobHoldenNYC introduced a new version of the bill named after Ryder, a horse whose dramatic collapse in midtown went viral and sparked global support for a ban. After a (human) teenager died in June 2026, the bill was renamed after the victim, Romanch Mahajan. Several of his family members, who are still in mourning, have been invaluable in advancing this bill.

The movement to ban horse-drawn carriages began in earnest in January 2006. When a spooked horse named Spotty crashed into a moving car on Ninth Avenue and died, animal rights activist Elizabeth Forel launched the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. Her effort injected a ban into the public discourse.

In 2008, businessman and animal advocate @SteveNislick founded @nyclass which invested in humane alternatives, including electric vintage cars. The horse-drawn carriage trade rejected the alternatives and falsely accused him of being motivated by a desire to develop the real estate where the "stables" are located. Despite the fact that mainstream media amplified that false and defamatory narrative, Mr. Nislick stayed in the fight.

In 2017, longtime animal rights activist @Edita_NYC became NYCLASS's Executive Director. Since then, she has moved mountains to help the horses while advocating for a ban. This bill would not have passed without her and @SpeakerMenin who led the Council in moving the ban forward in the City Council - despite aggressive attacks by the bill's opposition.

From the start, @peta organized high profile campaigns with celebrities and helped behind the scenes, never looking for credit, just results.

That's a short version of a much longer and very dramatic history of the movement to ban horse-drawn carriages.

On a final note, I took the picture below in Times Square in 2006. When I saw this horse pulling a carriage on a frigid night while ingesting the exhaust of the cars in front of him, I knew this was wrong. I'm relieved that these horses will be free in 2028, if not sooner.

[John Ridge @WeaponScientist]

They broke Eisenhower’s globe because they didn’t want to wait for a team of specialist historians to move it.

I cannot think of a more apt metaphor for Pete Hegseth’s DoD.

[‏ً @omgsidewalks]

If you’re buying a dog from a breeder instead of adopting, you’re completely tone-deaf to the animal welfare crisis happening around you.

[Humane World for Animals News @humaneworldnews]

The Trump administration has finalized a rule allowing bear baiting on Alaska’s national preserves, reversing critical wildlife protections.

“[The law] is indefensible and inexcusable as a federal policy decision,” says @humaneworldorg.

The rule allows hunters to lure black and brown bears using human food as bait, teaching bears to associate people with food and putting bears and humans at risk by increasing the likelihood of dangerous encounters with hikers, campers, and other visitors.

Read more: https://t.co/wXFjnPZf9t

[Mike Young @micyoung75]

In 2020, Tommy Tuberville promised to donate “every dime” of his $174,000 Senate salary to Alabama veterans and their families. A June investigation found no evidence he followed through, a pledge now worth roughly $1 million.

Tuesday night, after a reporter asked about it, Tuberville told staff to remove him. Then he called the media “socialists” and “communists.”

[Mike Quigley @RepMikeQuigley]

The Trump administration is trying to gut the 1973 Endangered Species Act—but I have a bill that can stop them.

As Co-Chair of the Animal Protection Caucus, I’m leading the Safeguarding Endangered Species Act with @RepBrianFitz. This bill will reverse the administration’s recent rule eliminating habitat protections.

We need to stick up for American wildlife and the endangered species around us.
https://t.co/V4aw1UhLja

[Nature is Amazing ☘️ @AMAZlNGNATURE]

Angelina Jolie’s foundation helps protect 150,720 acres of Cambodian forest where elephants and pangolins roam

For 20 years, the Maddox foundation has helped protect local wildlife. In 2025, rangers removed nearly 4.8 miles of illegal snares, making the forest safer for animals

[Pubity @pubity]

A village in England created a cat retirement community to prevent elderly cats from getting euthanized.

The Shropshire Cat Rescue wanted senior cats to be able to live a good life even if they were "too old" to get adopted.

[Marc E. Elias @marceelias]

🚨BREAKING: Thousands of North Carolina midterm ballots are set to be rejected over minor technical issues after a federal court upheld strict new Republican-backed rules for mail voters, according to data shared exclusively with Democracy Docket. https://t.co/0OgBCiwUlA

[Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren]

Boeing has overcharged the Pentagon nearly 8,000% for soap dispensers.

Talk about government waste.

If the Pentagon wants to crack down on price gouging by defense contractors and do something to save American tax dollars — I'm all in.

[dominic dyer @domdyer70]

BREAKING: Zohran Mandani announces free pet food at 22 NYC food pantries starting today, to help struggling families keep their pets.

"No New Yorker should have to choose between feeding themselves and feeding their pets. Keeping families together means keeping pets at home, too."

This is way better than using my tax dollars to buy Russian diesel. Thank you, Mayor, for showing how our tax dollars can be used to directly support our own citizens and their families!

[Chris Murphy 🟧 @ChrisMurphyCT]

Meta took down the No Kings organizing page today - the biggest day of protest this fall. They provided zero explanation. It stayed down for the entire afternoon until most of the protests were done.

Outrageous. Put this on the January investigation list.

[Ted Lieu @tedlieu]

Just go fucking vote.

And get ten of your family and friends to vote.

trump and GOP are going to try to suppress your vote. Find a way around it and overcome the obstacles they put before you.

That’s how you stick it to the man.

That’s how America wins.

November is coming.

[Jim Himes 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @jahimes]

The Trump administration will indict a guy for how he arranged some seashells on a beach. But when it comes to owning up to killing 123 children…well…maybe AFTER the election.

[Chris Harstin 🇺🇦 @ChrisHarstin]

@PlanetFitness Club check-ins aren’t showing in the app for some reason, even after closing and reopening.

[Maj. (Ret.) Richard Ojeda @Ojeda4America]

I served 24 years in the United States Army. Including three combat tours. I never dreamed I would see the day that the President of the United States would salivate over a damn dictator.

[Chris Harstin 🇺🇦 @ChrisHarstin]

@elonmusk

[Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton]

@ElonMusk, you’ve been an underdog and never quit fighting for your ideas. Don’t abandon Ukrainians as they fight for their lives and freedom against an aggressor.

[Wiley Nickel 🇺🇸 @WileyNickel]

BREAKING: The @WSJ reports Trump's new press secretary Katie Zacharia failed the California bar exam, yet has been calling herself a lawyer on TV. A watchdog group just filed a State Bar complaint.

https://t.co/00gagkUfZO

[Maj. (Ret.) Richard Ojeda @Ojeda4America]

I can’t wait to make Jared Kushner SQUIRM when it’s time for him to look me in the eye and explain his corruption.

[Chris Murphy 🟧 @ChrisMurphyCT]

It’s just so wild that these guys think they have no power and they just are Trump employees. The Congress could end the war and bring down gas prices tomorrow!