New York passes bill banning horse-drawn carriages; Central Park drivers fear for their future

The horse-drawn carriages that have crisscrossed Central Park for more than 150 years will soon be banned from New York City, ending an iconic tradition beloved by tourists but long fought by animal welfare advocates.

For carriage drivers, what happens next is unclear.

“No one can come up with a proper answer because there isn’t one,” said Alexus Lawson, a 28-year-old horse-drawn carriage driver from Queens who grew up around horses and worked as a riding instructor. Now she worries about what would happen to 7-year-old Starlight and her other horses. “Without work, how can I take care of my horses?

The New York City Council on Thursday passed a bill banning horse-drawn carriage rides by June 2028, pulling back the reins after the death of a teenage tourist last spring.

But the question that keeps coming up – what to do with drivers whose jobs would be lost – remains largely unanswered.

The legislation requires Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office to develop a plan by next April to help the remaining more than 150 drivers find other employment. This would include career advice and referrals for vacancies in the city’s transit, hospitality and taxi sectors. It also allows the administration to consider some form of compensation for industry workers.

City Hall is working on a detailed plan for the workforce transition and has begun discussions about possible compensation, a spokesperson for the mayor said. Mamdani himself said the government had “a civic responsibility to ensure that we leave no one behind.”

Carriage drivers wonder about their future

Medet Fidan, a former taxi driver who traded his steering wheel for a set of reins after ride-hailing apps upended the taxi industry, said he felt targeted.

“I think the city is leaving us in a big mess,” Fidan, 56, said. “We’re going to lose our businesses, we’re going to lose our jobs, we’re going to lose our livelihoods.”

Council President Julie Menin “will remain engaged in the transition process,” a spokesperson said, adding that the legislation seeks to answer the long-standing question of the fate of displaced horse-drawn carriage drivers by setting a firm deadline for City Hall to act.

“These workers deserve to be protected,” Menin said Thursday, adding that horses no longer have a place among the pedestrians, cyclists, dog walkers and gawking tourists of Central Park.

Still, the union representing car drivers has vowed to take legal action “as soon as the ink is dry” against the legislation.

Trump opposed the ban, saying a ‘great tradition’ would be missed

President Donald Trump, whose namesake Trump Tower sits a stone’s throw from Central Park, lamented the ban and called horse-drawn carriage rides “the quintessential New York experience.”

“It was a great tradition. Another piece of history that has disappeared. We will miss it!” Trump wrote on social media.

Two of Mamdani’s predecessors as mayor had called for an end to the industry, but neither succeeded.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio campaigned to end the rides on his first day in office, but his efforts failed due to union backlash and a major media blitz involving actor Liam Neeson. Eric Adams, the mayor just before Mamdani, initiated a ban at the end of his term, but the proposal went nowhere.

Latest moves to end rides started after tourist dies

The latest surge began in June after an 18-year-old Indian tourist, Romanch Mahajan, died after jumping from a fleeing car during a ride. His death appears to be the first death involving a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park since the rides began.

Mahajan’s family personally called on the city to end the rides, tearfully testifying that they believed the rides were safe. His uncle, Gaurav Mahajan, welcomed the proposal at a rally Thursday, declaring, “The time for justice has finally come,” as he stood alongside local lawmakers and animal welfare activists.

“We are turning our heartbreaking loss into an unbreakable shield of kindness for the city. For months, our family has not been allowed to grieve,” he said. “We had to fight. We had to channel our devastating grief into a war for change.”

Car drivers have expressed sympathy for Mahajan and his family, but say they are being unfairly targeted because of a single accident.

“It does nothing for alternative employment, for the continuity of our business,” said Christina Hansen, a longtime car driver and industry spokesperson. “Who will pay my rent while I look for a job? »