NYC horse carriages expected to be banned after City Council vote today
The Central Park-based horse-drawn carriage industry has been the subject of controversy. Credit: AP / Yuki Iwamura
The New York City Council is expected to say nay Thursday to the horse-drawn-carriage industry, following years of political tumult that pitted unionized labor against animal-rights activism.
A bill to abolish the industry is almost certain to become law, given the support of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Council Speaker Julie Menin, who controls the flow of legislation that comes up for a vote. Mamdani has indicated he will sign the bill, ending an industry that dates to the 1860s in Central Park.
The Transport Workers Union of America, which represents the 150-or-so active drivers who operate 68 carriages, is planning to sue to stop the bill if it passes, according to spokesman Pete Donohue.
Under a deal reached earlier this month by Mamdani and Menin, there will be job training and financial compensation for the drivers and owners and provisions for horses.
New licenses could no longer be issued beginning June 1, 2028, and existing ones would expire May 31, 2028, under the latest version of the bill.
The controversy over horse-drawn carriage rides, which are mostly in Central Park and taken by tourists, has loomed over city politics, influencing elections as stakeholders poured money into campaigns, and candidate after candidate vowed to abolish the industry. Adding to the intrigue are allegations, made by the union, that the push to ban horses is backed by the real estate industry, purportedly to develop the land on Manhattan’s West Side where the horse stables are now.
Yet long-promised bans never materialized.
That was until momentum toward a ban picked up speed earlier this year, when in June an 18-year-old tourist, Romanch Mahajan, was killed in Central Park after being thrown from a runaway and spooked horse.
But despite the deal between Menin and Mamdani, the industry is not going away without a fight.
Pro-horse-carriage demonstrators have protested, hoping to persuade officials to change course.
Among the demonstrators at a recent event was a sign bearing a QR code and a URL for a website to email all council members "To Keep Horses In The Park" as well as to email those "Anti-Carriage Councilors."
A rally is scheduled for Thursday morning at City Hall.
Over the years, there have been proposals to replace the horse-drawn carriage industry with vintage automobiles, but those plans are uncertain.
Animal-rights activists have long bemoaned the horses’ treatment as cruel, which the horse-drawn carriage industry denies.
The legislation requires "the humane disposition of carriage horses" and would "prohibit their sale or transfer for inhumane purposes, such as for slaughter or for use in another horse drawn cab business."
A "horse drawn cab industry transition plan" would need to be drawn up by April 1, 2027, to include a "workforce transition program, consideration of a program to assist carriage horse owners with the disposition of their horses and equipment, and consideration of a program to provide compensation to horse drawn cab owners," according to a council summary.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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