The news that the Upper West Side's Claremont Riding Academy, a stable and horseback riding school at 89th and Amsterdam, is closing imminently after being sold to a developer—perhaps as soon as this Friday—is a blow not only for uptown riding princesses (just think how much more painful their virginity-losing will be!) but anyone else who enjoyed taking one of the horses out for a little Central Park wandering. As a correspondent reports:

This is where all little uptown girls learn how to ride and where their mothers' hair turns grey to the naked eye as their little princesses get bucked off. They also rent horses by the hour to ride in Central Park. Who is going to use the Bridle paths in Central Park now? Will Bloomberg's daughter rent her horses out for canters through the park?

Possibly! Take that, congestion pricing!—Doree

West Side's Tale of Whoa [NYP]