The politically influential Transport Employees Union is threatening to sue Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa over “defamatory and false” feedback he just lately made concerning the labor group.
In a letter despatched to Sliwa on Monday, John Samuelsen, the TWU’s worldwide president, wrote that the mayoral hopeful engaged within the remarks throughout a July 24 rally at Metropolis Corridor organized by NYCLASS, a gaggle advocating for a ban on horse-carriage rides in Central Park.
Samuelsen, whose union represents horse carriage drivers, wrote he got here throughout Sliwa’s speech in a video of the gathering posted on YouTube.
“By this letter, I demand that you issue a written retraction of the statement and offer an apology to the members of the TWU whose leadership you have slandered and defamed,” the union large continued. “If you choose not to act honorably by retracting the false statement, we will commence legal action against you for your actions forthwith. We will seek damages commensurate with the harm done to my reputation and to the reputation of the TWU.”
Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder who has made animal welfare an enormous element of his mayoral marketing campaign, rejected Samuelsen’s demand, saying his remarks amounted to “First Amendment protected speech.”
“I offered my opinion on an area of concern for New Yorkers regarding the horse carriage industry and the TWU,” he mentioned. “My statement was generic and not individual specific. I believe Mr. Samuelsen and the TWU have other things to focus on.”
A horse is seen pulling acarriage, vacationers, and the motive force within the scorching warmth inside Central Park. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Each day Information)
Along with horse carriage drivers, Samuelsen’s union represents tens of 1000’s of MTA employees. His union hasn’t endorsed anybody within the 2025 mayoral race, however Samuelsen did seem at a June 14 rally for Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral nominee, the place he praised Mamdani’s proposal to make public buses free within the metropolis.
The horse carriage trade has lengthy been a supply of controversy in New York, with animal rights activists condemning the apply as inhumane, whereas TWU and different supporters of employees say banning it could destroy livelihoods. The union has additionally maintained reforms could be taken to make sure the protection of the horses.
Final week’s Metropolis Corridor rally was held to name on the Metropolis Council to undertake a invoice that will ban the native horse carriage trade. The rally got here days after a Manhattan jury acquitted a horse carriage driver who was indicted in 2023 on animal abuse prices for allegedly forcing his horse, Ryder, to work in scorching summer season temperatures.
Because the Republican candidate, Sliwa faces lengthy odds in November’s mayoral election, given town’s closely Democratic voters.
Sliwa, who additionally ran for mayor in 2021, has been particularly upbeat about his prospects this yr, although, as the sector is extra crowded than in a typical native election yr. Along with Mamdani on the Democratic line and Sliwa on the GOP line, Mayor Adams, Andrew Cuomo and Jim Walden are operating as independents in November’s contest, making a vote-splitting state of affairs Sliwa hopes would possibly profit him.
Initially Revealed: July 28, 2025 at 8:36 AM EDT
