Taken For a Ride

By MELISSA KLEIN

Central Park's horse-drawn carriage drivers are making "hansom" profits -- charging tourists outrageous fees or shorting them on trotting time.

A standard half-hour jaunt should cost $34, according to the rates set by the city.

But more than a half-dozen drivers questioned about the price of a ride last week said it cost $34 for 20 minutes, noting that the tip wasn't included.

Longer rides are supposed to cost $10 for each additional 15 minutes, with a 45-minute ride set at $44.

But drivers quoted rates that began at $60 for a 45-minute trip, and went up from there.

The Web sites of some carriage companies show fares that are even higher, with one saying its half-hour ride is $78 and a "lover's loop" trip is $98 for 40 minutes.

One driver named Mario charged a Post reporter and photographer posing as tourists $80 for a 40-minute ride last week. He said the fee was for two, although city law clearly says rates are per trip, not per passenger.

Another driver, whose city-mandated rate card was covered by a raincoat, charged $40 for a 20-minute trip.

Stephen Malone, a carriage owner and spokesman for the Horse and Carriage Association of New York, admitted, "We don't have a half-hour ride to give" because drivers follow a designated park path that takes just 20 minutes to cover.

He said his organization was lobbying the city to make the rate structure more accurate as part of proposed changes to the carriage law. Carriage drivers, who have not had a rate increase since 1989, want to charge $50 for a 20-minute ride and $90 for 40 minutes.

Malone said customers who feel ripped off should call the city.

"We don't have a tolerance for that," he said.

The city's Department of Consumer Affairs has conducted 212 quarterly and undercover inspections of horse-drawn carriages this year and issued 37 violations, mostly for overcharging.

Danish tourists Thea Blume and Paw Knudsen said they felt bilked last week by a hansom cab driver, who went back and forth over the same path on a ride that didn't last 30 minutes. They paid $34 and didn't tip.

"This was just a waste of money," Blume said.