New York City’s celebrity residents are not happy with newly elected Mayor Bill de Blasio, and “Taken” star Liam Neeson joins the ranks, criticizing de Blasio on Wednesday night for attempting to shutter one of the staples of New York City.
Neeson joins “TODAY” show host Al Roker in speaking out against the new mayor. The actor joined Comedy Central host Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” and said he was unhappy with de Blasio for pushing to ban New York City’s iconic horse carriages.
“I am a little bit pissed off at our elected mayor,” Neeson told Stewart. “He made my kids go to school in all that snow. He wants to close this horse and carriage industry in New York. There was a poll last week. Over 60 percent of New Yorkers want to keep the horse carriage industry in Central Park.”
The “Non-Stop” actor has been a long-time advocate of New York City’s horse-and-carriage industry. He noted that such businesses, which are known to take tourists around areas like Central Park, “made the roads of New York.”
de Blasio, to the contrary, has made banning the horse-drawn carriages a priority of his administration. However, he hasn’t explained why. Activists argue the horses are treated inhumanly.
Neeson defended the industry and said the activists could’t be more wrong.
“These organizations want to put out this, all this false information about how these horses are treated. And these guys treat these horses like their children,” he said.
Watch Neeson’s interview with Stewart below.
