a. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a horse drawn cab within the city without having a valid horse drawn cab driver's license from the commissioner.
b. The biennial fee for each such horse drawn cab driver's license shall be thirty dollars.
c. The commissioner shall investigate each applicant as to character and fitness before such license shall be issued.
d. A horse drawn cab driver's license shall not be issued or renewed unless the applicant therefor has submitted to the commissioner a certificate issued by the commissioner of health pursuant to section 17-334.1 of the code.
e. It shall be unlawful for any owner of a horse drawn cab to permit such horse drawn cab to be operated by a person who does not possess a current valid driver's license issued pursuant to this section. In any prosecution of an owner for a violation of this section, it shall not be necessary to prove that the owner knew or should have known that the driver was unlicensed, and there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such cab was operated with the permission of the owner.
f. An applicant who has not previously held a license under this section shall be issued a probationary license upon approval of his or her application. A holder of a probationary license may ride alongside a licensed driver at any time. A probationary license shall be valid from the date of issuance until six months after the date of issuance and may be revoked for any violation of the rules and regulations pertaining to rental horses and horse drawn cabs. Until he or she accrues eighty hours time spent operating a horse drawn cab, a holder of a probationary license shall only be permitted to operate a horse drawn cab at staging areas immediately adjacent to Central Park and on roadways or paths wholly within a New York City park. Following the accrual of eighty hours of time spent operating a horse drawn cab, a holder of a probationary license shall be permitted to operate a horse drawn cab to or from a stable at any time. For the purposes of this subsection a person shall be considered to be operating a horse drawn cab if he or she is holding the reins of a horse attached to a horse drawn cab and directing such horse's movements while the cab is in motion. At the conclusion of six months, if the probationary licensee has accrued no violations under subchapter 3 of title 17 or this subchapter, the licensee shall be issued a horse drawn cab driver's license under the terms of this subchapter.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1989/089 and L.L. 1995/031.