New York City's Horse-Drawn Carriages Ride Toward the Sunset: Ban Voted Through, Phase-Out by 2028

One of New York City's most familiar sights, the horse-drawn carriage, is set to become history in less than two years. City leaders voted on Thursday to ban the practice, following the death of an 18-year-old tourist who was killed during a ride in Central Park over the summer.

The City Council voted 40 to 7, with two abstentions, for Romanch's Law, which would prohibit the issuance of new licences used in the operation of horse-drawn cabs and phase out the carriages by June 1, 2028. The margin was described as veto-proof.

Under the bill, the horses would also be prohibited from being sold to slaughterhouses, a safeguard covering what happens to the animals once the carriages stop running.

The central event behind the ban is the death of Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old Indian tourist who was killed in the summer after a horse got out of control with the carriage while his family was still inside. According to investigators, the carriage clipped the wheel of another carriage and toppled. Mahajan's aunt and uncle were on hand for the vote.

The Central Park Conservancy, which operates the park, said Mahajan's death was the ninth carriage-related incident in just over a year — a number it could not ignore as the stewards and caretakers of Central Park. The conservancy has pushed for the ban for years and praised the decision.

In past instances, tourists and other parkgoers were injured when horses ran loose, including one instance in January where a horse crashed into cars. Animal rights groups and park advocates have long called for the ban citing such incidents, and they welcomed Thursday's vote.

City Council Speaker Julie Menin said before the vote that the carriages had become a safety risk. They do not belong, she said, in an area that attracts 42 million people a year, pulling a 1,000-pound carriage in record heat.

Previous mayors Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams both pushed for the ban during their tenures, but there was not enough support in the City Council at the time. The discussion picked up again in the summer after the fatal incident, and this time the council passed the measure by a wide margin.

Under the bill, a workforce transition program will be set up for the horse-drawn carriage drivers, who are unionized. The program will include job placement, training, career counselling and financial compensation.

The drivers' side, however, has objected strongly. The Transport Workers Union, which represents roughly 150 horse-drawn carriage drivers, protested outside City Hall on Thursday and sent a letter the day before to the city's law department saying it will seek a temporary restraining order the minute the ink dries.

After the vote, Alexander Kemp, administrative vice president of TWU Local 100, said they will see the city in court. The bill is blatantly unconstitutional, he said, providing nothing but a plan to draft a plan, with nothing concrete for hundreds of workers, carriage owners and family members who face total economic devastation.

So although the ban has passed the vote, the fight is not over. With a phase-out deadline of June 1, 2028 on one side and the union's promise of legal action on the other, the final future of New York's horse-drawn carriages will be decided in the courts in the days ahead.