紐約中央公園老馬車 即將退出歷史舞臺

The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio is poised to introduce legislation next week that would eliminate the New York City horse-drawn carriage industry, fulfilling a promise by the mayor to animal-rights activists who played an important role in securing his campaign victory last year.

市長比爾·白思豪(Bill de Blasio)已經帶領行政班子嚴陣以待，他們將於下個星期（指12月18日當週——譯註）引入一項立法，取締紐約市的馬車行業，以落實他作爲市長曾對動物權益活動者做出的承諾。因爲這些活動人士在他去年贏得競選的過程中，扮演了一個重要角色。

Mr. de Blasio had pledged “on Day 1” to rid Central Park of its signature four-legged tourist attraction, a Victorian vestige that has been denounced as torture by activists who say the animals are mistreated and vulnerable to accidents when traversing Midtown streets.

白思豪從競選的“第一天起”就宣誓，要取締中央公園標誌性的四條腿景點。那些維多利亞時代遺留下來的風貌，卻被動物權益活動者們斥爲一種折磨。他們說，這些動物受到了虐待，還說它們在中城區的街道上來回穿梭時，很容易出意外。

But the mayor’s efforts quickly turned into a steeplechase, with city officials stymied for months by union protests (the industry includes dozens of blue-collar jobs), celebrity ripostes (Liam Neeson made a well-publicized visit to the local stables) and legal and regulatory snags.

但這位市長的努力立刻變成了一場跑馬障礙賽。市政府的官員們連月來受到了百般阻撓，比如工會的數次抗議（該行業涉及了數十種藍領工作），名人的還擊（利亞姆·尼森[Liam Neeson，演員，曾主演《辛德勒的名單》——譯註]大張旗鼓地拜訪了當地的幾個馬廄），還有法律和法規層面的阻礙。

Now, Mr. de Blasio’s team is unveiling a bill that would phase out the industry by the middle of 2016, while offering soon-to-be-unemployed carriage drivers a carrot of sorts: job training classes and a waiver of most fees for licenses to operate “green” taxicabs, which can pick up passengers outside the busiest parts of Manhattan.

現在，白思豪的團隊即將推出一項法案，預計到2016年中期逐步取締該行業；與此同時，給那些即將失業的馬車伕們提供某種“胡蘿蔔”似的補償：比如一些職業培訓課程，以及一張豁免大部分費用的“綠色出租車”運營執照——這類出租車可以在曼哈頓最繁忙的地段周圍接客。

The bill would also prohibit the use of horse-drawn carriages throughout the city, with exceptions allowed for film sets and some parades.

該法案還將明令禁止在全紐約市內使用馬車，除非拍攝電影或進行一些遊行慶典活動。

The legislation, described by three people familiar with its contents, would first have to pass the City Council, whose members are mixed on the proposal. A vote is not expected until next year, and a spokesman for the Council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, said she was still reviewing the bill, which was first reported by Capital New York.

據三位熟知該立法內容的人士描述，這項法案首先必須在市議會獲得通過，而市議會的議員卻對這項法案意見不一。投票表決要到明年纔有望進行，而市議會議長的一位發言人梅麗莎·馬克-瓦維瑞託(Melissa Mark-Viverito)說，她還在審閱這項法案。此法案是由網絡媒體Capital New York首先公佈的。

Carriage horses in Central Park — a Manhattan fixture for more than a century — remain broadly popular with the public, and Mr. de Blasio’s effort to remove them has been lampooned on the cover of The New Yorker and assailed by The Daily News, which embarked on a campaign to “Save Our Horses!”

中央公園裏那些駕車的馬兒，近百年來一直是曼哈頓一道不變的風景，時值今日仍廣受公衆喜愛。所以白思豪要取締馬車的嘗試，在《紐約客》(The New Yorker)的封面上被狠狠諷刺了一番，還遭到《每日新聞》(The Daily News)的攻擊，該報發起了一場以“拯救我們的馬！”爲主題的宣傳攻勢。

But for the mayor, embracing the equine cause was a windfall before it was a headache.

但對市長而言，捲入這項與馬有關的事業其實純屬意外收穫，那時它還沒有變成一樁頭疼事。

NYClass, a small but vocal group of animal-rights activists, endorsed Mr. de Blasio in last year’s mayoral race, calling him an “animal hero” after he pledged opposition to the horse-carriage trade.

去年，一家規模不大但積極發聲的動物權益活動組織NYClass，爲白思豪的競選活動做了宣傳。他們在白思豪宣誓反對馬車運營之後，稱讚他是一位“動物英雄”。

That placed Mr. de Blasio, a proud populist, in the odd position of opposing a working-class industry populated by Irish immigrants. And despite talk about curbing the influence of money in politics, Mr. de Blasio did not object when a “super PAC” financed by NYClass spent roughly $1 million on ads attacking his major opponent in the Democratic primary, Christine C. Quinn.

但這就把白思豪這位驕傲的民粹主義者擺在了一個突兀的位置上，與一個由愛爾蘭移民組成的工人階級爲主的行業，形成了對立。儘管白思豪聲稱，要限制金錢對政治的影響力，但他並沒有反對一個受NYClass資助的“超級PAC組織”（Political Action Committee，政治活動委員會） 花費近100萬美元（約合人民幣615萬），來通過宣傳攻擊白思豪在民主黨初選中的勁敵，克里斯汀·C·奎因(Christine C. Quinn)。

After Mr. de Blasio took office, his administration struggled to find feasible ways to check the carriage industry, batting about ideas like installing stables in Central Park. Animal-rights advocates also stepped up pressure, telling the mayor in a recent meeting that they were prepared to finance an ad campaign and mail pamphlets directly to voters.

白思豪當選之後，他的行政班子想盡了各種可能的法子來管控馬車行業，還打擊了在中央公園內搭建馬廄這類想法。動物權益保護者們也在施壓，他們在最近一次會面中告訴這位市長，他們準備去資助一項宣傳活動，並直接給選民們郵遞宣傳手冊。

The donors behind NYClass, which is led by a local real-estate and parking-garage magnate, include several of Mr. de Blasio’s biggest campaign supporters — among them a labor group led for years by his cousin, which contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to NYClass.

NYClass組織由當地一個房地產與停車場業大亨領導，其背後的捐款人中有幾位是白思豪競選活動的最大支持者——其中有一家勞工組織多年來一直由他的堂系親屬領導，該組織爲NYClass捐助了數十萬美元。

The close ties between Mr. de Blasio’s campaign and NYClass have drawn scrutiny, with critics accusing the mayor of a quid pro quo. (Mr. de Blasio has said his opposition to horse carriages comes from genuine concern for the animals’ welfare.) Federal investigators have also examined the actions of a political affairs firm that worked with NYClass on its ads during the campaign.

白思豪的競選活動與NYClass組織之間的緊密關係，已遭到了審查，有批評者指責這位市長有利益交換之嫌（白思豪曾說，他反對馬車行業是真心誠意地出於對動物福祉的關懷）。聯邦調查員也已審查了一家政治活動事務所的多項行動，該事務所曾在競選中參與主辦NYClass的宣傳活動。

Allie Feldman, the executive director of NYClass, applauded Mr. de Blasio on Monday, saying in a statement: “This is the right creative solution that benefits all New Yorkers by adding jobs while also ending an unsafe and inhumane industry.”

本週一（指12月1日——譯註），NYClass的常務董事艾莉·費爾德曼(Allie Feldman)誇讚了白思豪。她在一份陳述中說：“這是一個有創意的正確解決方案，不僅增加了就業，同時又終結了一個不安全且不人道的行業，從而造福了所有紐約人。”

The Teamsters union local representing the Central Park carriage drivers objected in strenuous terms. “This is awful news to give a working family just before the holidays,” George Miranda, president of the Teamsters local, said in a statement.

代表中央公園馬車伕的當地車伕工會(The Teamsters union local)以激烈的言辭提出了反對。“這是一個工薪家庭在聖誕節前夕聽到的最可怕的消息，”當地車伕工會的主席喬治·米蘭達在發表的一份聲明中說。

Mr. de Blasio, asked about the legislation after an event in Harlem on Monday morning, offered a simple and blunt reply.

週一早晨，白思豪在參加了哈萊姆區(Harlem)的一項活動之後，被問到這項法案的相關事宜，他給出了一個簡單、生硬的回答。

“We think it’s time to end horse carriages in the city,” the mayor said, “and we’re going to act on it.”

“我們認爲，是時候結束紐約市的馬車運營業了，”這位市長說，“我們將爲此行動起來。”