Daily News delivers 40,000 ‘Save Our Horses’ petitions to City Hall

The message to Mayor de Blasio was loud, clear and a resounding 40,000 signatures strong: Save our horses!

But the mayor isn’t listening.

Three months after the Daily News kicked off a campaign to save the 156-year-old industry, more than 100 supporters gathered at City Hall as New York’s Hometown Newspaper dropped off five bags of petitions on the mayor’s doorstep.

It’s the largest signature drop-off since de Blasio took office, and the biggest show of signed support on any issue in years.

All four of the city’s horse stables shut down so workers could attend the 1 p.m. rally, and not a single carriage ride was available in all of New York City until after the mayor received the signatures.

Some of the drivers, the vast majority of whom are immigrants, brought their children along to highlight how important the cause was to them.

“We are just so appreciative that the Daily News provided us with a forum to show the support we have,” said driver Colm McKeever.

De Blasio was tucked in City Hall’s west wing during the petition drop off. He never came out to see the workers.

Instead, he sent out an aide to pick up the sacks, which were emblazoned with the colorful “Save Our Horses” logo.

A de Blasio spokesman said the mayor was “considering a range of options that would move the horses off our streets.”

The bags were later transported on a trolley through City Hall for processing.

“I hope he looks at them,” said Ahmet Bilici, one of the drivers who helped The News deliver the signatures.

“This is the real public position,” he said. “New Yorkers support us.”

A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that New York City voters — by a percentage of 62 to 26 — say de Blasio should not ban the horse carriages.

De Blasio failed to make good on his campaign promise to ban the industry during his first week in office, but now says he will dismantle the New York tradition — which feeds around 350 families — sometime this year.

He still hasn’t taken up the industry’s repeated invitations to visit a stable and see how the animals are cared for himself.

“He’s welcome to come to the stables … but I don’t think he cares what conditions the horses are in,” said McKeever.

De Blasio hasn’t met with carriage drivers or the veterinarians who treat the horses.

“He cares about satisfying NYCLASS, and the financing that came from them,” McKeever said, referring to the politically connected animal rights group.

NYCLASS donated $81,250 to the political action committee NYC Is Not For Sale, which ran attack ads that helped bring down Christine Quinn, de Blasio’s one-time rival for City Hall. NYCLASS and other animal rights groups claim the horses don’t belong in New York City traffic, and call the industry inhumane.

But supporters say the horses are well cared for, and point out that the industry is highly regulated, which means the city is constantly inspecting the stables.

“I applaud the Daily News for giving people, the people of New York a voice on this issue,” said City Councilman Costa Constantinides, a longtime industry supporter who attended the rally.

The petitions were signed online and on forms published in the newspaper.

Ava Seavey, a Manhattan ad exec and longtime equestrian, said she has no ties to the horse industry, but came to the rally to show support after hearing about it on Facebook.

“These horses are better off than country horses,” she said.

“All the equestrians I know support the horses. It makes me angry what people are saying. The horses love to work, they love the attention.”

Also in attendance was George Miranda, President of Teamsters Joint Council 16, and Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez, who reps over 1.3 million workers.

Alvarez is typically a staunch de Blasio ally, but he said he couldn’t sit by when middle class livelihoods were at stake.

“When you attack good jobs, attack an industry, we’re not going to stand for that,” he said.

Miranda promised the workers that the sprawling international Teamsters union — which reps drivers — would help them buck City Hall.

“You have a commitment from the Teamsters, the 1.4 million Teamsters, that we stand solidly behind you,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we are going to be successful. Why? Because we’re right.”

Drivers hope he’s correct.

“I need to work. I have three kids,” said driver Ariel Fintzi, 58, who has been a driver for 33 years since moving to New York from Israel.

“I love the horses, I love the people,” he said. “And I love the connection between horses and people.”