Russell Simmons: NYC’s horse carriages like Holocaust

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is the latest celeb to miss the memo, when he jumped into the debate over whether to ban New York’s horse-and-carriages, the old-fashioned buggy ride beloved by tourists but denounced as cruel to the horses by animal-rights activists.

“The horses matter,” Simmons said, according to the Journal. “People for it”. “There’s people that put people in ovens”, Mr. Simmons said outside City Hall yesterday, from the shotgun seat of one of the “horseless carriages” proposed to replace the equestrian ones.

Simmons claimed on Instagram that The Wall Street Journal and New York Post took his comments out of context in their reports and that he wasn’t comparing slavery or the Holocaust to the suffering of 200 horses.

Representatives of the animal rights group NYCLASS who invited Simmons to try out their “horseless carriage” stood around him with signs that read, “18 months & waiting, Mayor de Blasio”. “The promises you made matter”.

Simmons, a music producer, clothing designer and reality TV star who is also an activist, said he expected de Blasio to be more skilled at deal-making and persuading council members to his side.

The mayor said he feels “very clear about the mission” to ban horse carriages. “It’s something that I’ll keep working on until we get the work done”. “Mr. Simmons doesn’t help his cause when he engages in outrageous hyperbole that minimizes the murder of much of my grandparents’ family.” “We all agree the Holocaust is a horrific event”. He continued, “That is the ongoing suffering of the 100 billion animals who are born to suffer unimaginable atrocities every year”.

“F**k no, I’m not apologizing,” Mr. Simmons told the Observer.

He went on to say that the organization is disappointed that someone in New York, who’s worked with the Jewish community would say such a thing.