“Next week, the Council will take decisive action by voting on [this bill] to protect New Yorkers, visitors, and the horses themselves.”Former Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio, who served from 2014 to 2021, had pledged to ban the tourist attraction on “day one” of his administration, but failed after receiving pushback from the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which opposes the current bill.The newest version of the bill includes several safeguards to protect labour, including a workforce transition programme which includes career counselling as well as referrals to employment opportunities in taxpayer-funded roles throughout the city, private sector sightseeing bus companies, and local pedicab operators.The TWU, whose New York members are mostly subway, bus, and railway workers, have slammed the proposed ban as giving “no meaningful economic relief for workers”.