"Residents in the club-centric hub of the Lower East Side are raising a stink over the manure minefield they're forced to navigate after NYPD horses do their duty to disperse rowdy bar-hoppers every weekend," reports the NY Post in an article that contains exactly one quote from a LES resident. But no matter! The tabloid's reporters noticed some horse manure while out and about in neighborhood over the weekend, and that's good enough to run a horseshit story headlined, "Party poopers: Clubland fumes at coppers' ploppers." more ›

Some of New York's finest four-legged friends have been sent off to greener pastures, with a loud rally cry from animal rights activists sending them off. According to the NY Post, the head of the NYPD's Mounted Unit, Capt. Barry Gelbman, ordered three retired police horses put down upon their retirement, saying various leg ailments made it impossible to transport them to new homes upstate and in New Hampshire. more ›

Whoa, Nellie! There's another lawsuit against one of New York's finest... horses. Last year a New Jersey woman sued after being bit by one member of the force's furry fleet, and now the NY Post reports that one of the NYPD's own is filing suit after being bucked off her horse. more ›

Ouch: According to WCBS 2, "A member of the NYPD's mounted patrol unit was on the mend Saturday after a fall down a flight of stairs. The officer was inside the stables at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx when a power outage left him in the dark." Apparently a tree fell on the power lines! The officer, who is expected to make a full recovery, did suffer neck and back injuries and may also have a broken leg. more ›

A police horse named Mr. Biggs is at the center of a lawsuit filed against the city last week. Allegedly the member of the NYPD's Mounted Unit took a bite out of a New Jersey woman last summer, and now that woman is suing. more ›

NYPD detective turned Fox 5 reporter Mike Sheehan is saying "neigh" to charges that he was allegedly drunk when he drove into a mounted police officer on Monday night. Sheehan's lawyer Thomas Monagan said, "It is Mr. Sheehan's position that the horse ran into his car," according to the Daily News, which has a photo of the car showing a damaged driver's side window. Cops say Sheehan drove into the horse and cop on Varick at N. Moore Street in Tribeca, leaving the cop with a bruised leg and the horse with cuts, bruises and scrapes; they add that Sheehan refused to take a Breathalyzer test. Monagan said, "How do you hit a horse with the side of your car? You can't," and pointed out that a police officer's initial report found that Sheehan's breath did not smell of alcohol but then the cop apparently changed his story the next morning to say the newsman had "slurred speech and the smell of alcohol on his breath." (P.S. NYPD horses are referred to as 10-foot cops.) more ›

Fox 5 senior correspondent Mike Sheehan was arrested last night "after a traffic accident involving his car and an NYPD officer on a horse," his own station reports. The incident occurred at North Moore Street in Tribeca at 10:26 p.m.—the Post say says Sheehan "slammed his car into a police horse" that was going against the traffic. The Post and Fox 5 are both owned by the News Corp. more ›

Horse home, sweet horse home. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg opened the new stables for the NYPD's Mounted Unit at Pier 76, near 36th Street. The new stables had to move after being faced with eviction by the Hudson River Park Trust, which wanted to continue renovations to the park and take over the space near 23rd Street. more ›

No it wasn't your imagination, that was a parade of police horses you saw parading down lower Manhattan yesterday. The horses, which hail from more than 12 states, are in town for the police equestrian competition in New Jersey this weekend. Since they were around anyway, the crime fighters and their riders took the opportunity to check out the NYPD's Mounted Unit headquarters near the Chelsea Piers before it moves and then went to pay their respects at a memorial service at Ground Zero. more ›

Basketball City, that puffy structure off the West Side Highway on West 23rd Street will need to leave tomorrow, since the city wants to get working on continuing to improve Hudson River Park. The fight to stay at Pier 63 (which the Villager called "political football" back in 2004 when its lease expired) even escalated to the point where Basketball City claimed bankruptcy in an attempt to stay, while parks advocates have been eager for the facility to leave. Crain's reports Basketball City's owners are looking for a new space, but they do not think they'll find anything until next year. One partner, Bruce Radler, said, "We'll easily lose 50% of our revenue." Until then, Basketball City "will continue to run some of its corporate and youth leagues renting space in an ad hoc consortium of school gyms." more ›

The NYPD's Mounted Unit will be ensconced near the NYPD's Tow Pound as part of a move from its current Chelsea location. The Mounted Unit was stationed at Pier 63, right at West 23rd Street near Chelsea Piers, where they had a temporary lease on a space with an indoor riding trak and stables. But the Hudson River Park Trust wanted to take the land back for further renovations, leading some to worry the police wouldn't find adequate space for the equines. The new space at Pier 76 is near West 34th Street, right by the NYC Tow Pound. Gothamist expects to hear more about police horses dealing with tourists and rambunctious sports fans around Madsion Square Garden and Penn Station. more ›

As we love animals and learning about how the police department works, Gothamist loves today's NY Times article about the mounted unit of the NYPD and how it is now high crime areas. The NYPD will essentially double the number of horses on patrol over the next three years (from 75 to 160), because one mounted police officer can be as effective as 10 police officers. And the horses aren't in a union (they cost $4000) - they just want their hay! Police Commissioner Kelly says, "There's a reason we call them the 10-foot cop. You can see them from blocks away, they're great at crowd control and they're probably the most photographed piece of equipment we have. I'm a huge fan." The mounted police also help "break the ice" with some communities distrustful of the police - and also the horses are just pretty - nevermind the manure. What's amusing is that the NY Times photograph of mounted horses training to get used to "maneuvering through crowds" has horses pushing a huge ball, which must be exactly like throngs of roly poly tourists in Times Square; the audio slide show about the NYPD horses is cool, though. Why aren't there plush NYPD horsies for sale at the City Store? more ›

The NYPD's Mounted Unit will be homeless pretty soon, as the Hudson River Park Trust wants them to vacate their cushy digs. The NYPD had signed a three year lease for its temporary headquarters at Pier 63 (where they have an indoor riding track, enough room for unit training and exercises, plus the stables for the Midtown unit, according to the Post) but haven't been able to find suitable replacement space. The Trust is looking to start park renovations. Hmm, Gothamist wonders if the NYPD could lease some space from the MTA - maybe the West Side railyards? more ›