April 29, 2007

Last Manhattan riding stable shuts after 115 years

By Carol Bishopric

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yet another unique New York institution is set to disappear when the last riding stable in Manhattan closes its doors during the weekend.

Claremont Riding Academy, said to be the oldest continuously operated stable in the United States, will shut its stable doors at 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The stable has been a fixture on the upper west side of Manhattan since it opened as a livery stable in 1892, six years before the automobile began to negotiate city streets. It has operated as a riding academy since the 1920s, giving lessons and renting horses for rides in Central Park.

Claremont owner Paul Novograd said he was not at liberty to say whether the building, which is located two blocks west of Central Park on West 89th Street, had been sold.

But New York City Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe said it was widely known that the building was being sold to developers and he understood that it is going to be made into condominiums. The building is a landmark, so it won't be torn down, he added.

Several dozen people turned out on Saturday to protest against the stable's closing, but the demonstration was not expected to affect the outcome.

On Friday, trainer Karen Feldgus, who has worked at Claremont for more than 18 years, was giving her last lesson at the stable to a group of 10 people who were riding to music.

Feldgus began to cry as the music began playing. "These (horses) are all my best friends. I've ridden all of them," she said.

Novograd said the horses would go to good homes. Most will be moved to the Potomac Horse Center in Maryland, owned by Novograd. Some are being sold to their riders, and some are being donated to the equestrian program at Yale University.

Claremont has a small indoor riding facility and stalls for the 38 horses. Instruction included jumping, dressage and stable management. Horses also could be rented for a ride on the bridle path in Central Park.

CHILDREN BIG USERS

Novograd estimated that about 60 percent of the stable's riding business involved children.

Among reasons for closing the stable, Novograd said, were costs incurred restoring the building and problems with the Central Park bridle path.

Benepe said there are no issues with the condition of the path or people using it for other purposes. If anything, he said, the bridle path has been improved over recent years by the Central Park Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization that manages Central Park under a contract with the city.

Novograd said bridle paths were being used for running, dog walking and pushing baby strollers, making it difficult for riders.

The closing of Claremont does not mean the end of horseback riding in parks in New York City, Benepe said, pointing out that there are riding facilities in the city's other boroughs.

And he said the city is exploring the possibility of one or more of its stable operators setting up an operation under which horses could be brought to Central Park by trailer.

"We're obviously not interested in seeing horseback riding leave the park after 150 years," Benepe said.

Losing Claremont is a blow not only to those who ride there, but to those who believe such changes erode New York's character.

Manhattan's Times Square area, once a seedy enclave known for pornographic movies, has been transformed in the last decade or so and now booms with retail stores, restaurants and other attractions that lure throngs of tourists.

While the neighborhood is safer and cleaner, detractors say the changes have diluted its character by filling it with stores and chain restaurants that can be found at shopping malls across the United States.

Further downtown, famed music clubs like CBGB, a legendary forum for punk and "new wave" bands like the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads, have closed. And once-gritty areas like the "meat-packing district," named for its history as a center for slaughterhouses and meat plants, have seen influxes of pricey shops and restaurants.

Losing Claremont is another thing "gradually whittling away at the character of New York," said Daniel Goldberg, who lives near the stable.

"It's what gives New York its flavor."

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