Brooklyn-Born Car Designer Working On Horseless Carriages

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - There's a new push under way to eliminate the horse-drawn carriages in Central Park.

Animal rights groups are behind the new prototype horseless carriage being work on by a Brooklyn-born exotic car designer. The carriage would be modeled after the electric cars from the early 1900s, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.

"I'm not impressed, I like the horse. It's more romantic and it's more adventuresome. And the car thing, I wouldn't do it at all," a Canadian tourist in Central Park told Schuck.

Carriage drivers said they agree that the horseless carriage would not be a successful replacement.

"For some people, they just want to sit down and relax. Sometimes they don't even want to talk, they just want a slow pace through the park, the sounds of the clip-clop," the driver told Schuck.

Creative Workshop in Florida is working on the prototype, which could hit the streets of New York by early next year if approved, according to the New York Daily News.

The horseless model would be able to accommodate eight passengers at a time and could also include a sound system and seatbelts, Schuck reported.

Jason Wenig, originally from Brooklyn, told the Daily News the prototype is expected to cost $450,000.

"I'm so thrilled to get to build this beautiful piece of machinery for my city," the animal lover said.

A crash involving a carriage horse last year reignited the debate over horse-drawn carriages.

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