Alec Baldwin was joking when he encouraged New York tourists to take drugs instead of riding horse carriages.

The actor appeared at a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) event on Wednesday (18Jun08) to highlight cruelty to the animals involved in New York's famous horse-drawn carriage trade.

Dismissing the notion that the tourist attraction is a tradition, Baldwin described other Manhattan traditions from his youth, including drug dealing in the city's Union Square.

ut PETA boss Michael McGraw insists the actor wasn't urging visitors to break the law - he merely wanted to show how other New York traditions had died for the good. McGraw says, "He was obviously joking."

Baldwin told guests at the bash how he would help fund reforms to the horse-drawn carriage industry, if it meant the animals were better cared for.

He said, "I don't have a problem with the carriage trade. If they remove all the cars in Manhattan, and build a farm with an acre of land for each horse to graze, I will invest my own money.Passions run high in this issue... It's loud and vulgar because they know they are wrong." (IG/PYN/LR)

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