Alec Baldwin believes visitors in New York should forget experiencing the city in famous horse-drawn carriages, and instead partake in activities such as getting drunk and taking drugs.

The native New Yorker claims the vices are as valid a "tradition" as the carriages, which he claims are cruel to the horses forced to pull tourists around Manhattan.

Speaking at a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals event in the city on Wednesday, Baldwin told WENN about the traditions he took part in during his youth in the Big Apple: "I walked through Union Square on my way to acting class and got offered loose joints. Drug dealing was a great tradition in this city.

"There are other traditions people can get involved with in this city. When I was younger, I used to get a bottle of wine and get drunk under the Staten Island Ferry... so there are things like that you can do."