New York City Council is expected to vote on Thursday to pass a ban on horse-drawn carriages in Central Park, a tradition that has operated in the park for more than 160 years. The proposed ban would take effect in June 2028. It is backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has said he will help develop a transition plan for workers in the industry.
The move has divided opinion. Animal activists see the proposal as a victory, while many New Yorkers and tourists have welcomed it. Carriage drivers, who say they are worried about their livelihoods, have pushed back on the idea that their horses are mistreated.
Drivers fear losing their livelihoods and horses
Alexus Lawson, a 28-year-old who has driven a carriage in the park for six years, said she has been worried since she heard about the vote. She described her horse as central to her work and asked how she would be able to keep caring for her animal if she could no longer work with her.
Lawson is one of roughly 200 carriage drivers in Central Park. She owns six horses and said New York City’s carriages were the most regulated in the country. She argued that horses enjoy the mental stimulation of work.
Medet Fidan, who has driven a carriage for 12 years, said he spends more time with his horses than with his family. He said he was angry that officials were moving toward a ban without speaking in person to drivers and others in the industry. He asked how the city could end his business and his family’s livelihood without listening to him.
According to drivers who spoke at a city council hearing, workers earn between $60,000 and $70,000 a year. A spokesperson for Mamdani said his office was involved in planning to find new jobs for them. The Transport Workers Union, which represents the drivers, disagreed, saying the plan contained no guarantees, including compensation, and that workers would be “economically wiped out”.
Safety concerns after a teenager’s death in the park
The ban movement gained new momentum this summer after the death of a teenager. Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old visiting New York from India with his family, was riding in a carriage in June when the horse bolted. He fell out and died. The planned ban has been named Romanch’s Law after him.
The legislation also follows the death earlier this year of a carriage horse called Deniz, which ate a toxic plant in Central Park. Lawson was nearby when Mahajan fell and described the incident as “extremely tragic”. However, she argued that if the city were truly worried about safety, it would outlaw carriages immediately rather than in two years’ time.
Data cited by the Manhattan Borough President’s office show that 40 horses working in Central Park have died since 1982. The office blames causes including overheating and collisions. The Central Park Conservancy, a non-profit that manages the park and supports the ban, said there had been seven “horse-related incidents” over the past 13 months alone.
Among those incidents, the Conservancy pointed to a May episode in which a driver was taken to hospital after a spooked horse hit another carriage and caused it to tip over. In January, a horse named Destiny ran into traffic near the park, causing a multi-car collision.
Several drivers said their horses were well cared for and that the rides did not pose a safety risk. New York resident Ron Tsur, however, said he had seen horses die in the park and that they were not being properly looked after. “That’s not what they’re supposed to be doing,” he said.
Rules, costs and views from animal groups and visitors
The ban has long been sought by animal-rights groups. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded in 1866 by Henry Bergh after he witnessed the beating of a carriage horse. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and a coalition of organisations supporting the ban also oppose the carriages.
Under current rules, horses can work up to nine hours a day. They are restricted to certain park entrances, where they wait with drivers to be hired. Customers pay $72.22 for a 20-minute ride, plus $28.89 for every additional ten minutes.
The legislation would forbid selling horses for slaughter or for similar work. The union said thousands of horses end up at slaughter auctions each year and raised concerns about a lack of funding for the people and organisations that take them in. The bill proposes an “industry transition framework” that could include job placement, training, career counselling and financial compensation.
Visitors were divided. Vanessa Stolle, a German tourist who keeps horses at home, said the animals do not belong in a noisy park pulling passengers. Fellow German tourist Christian Bauers disagreed, saying the carriages are part of New York’s culture and that horses should stay.
Jeanne Collopy, an animal lover from Colorado, said she worried about accidents that have harmed people and horses, while adding that she hated to see people lose their jobs. Her husband, Chris Koenigs, said the horses were “wonderful” but that the teenager’s death had been “sickening”. He added that the park would be magnificent with or without the carriages.
