New York City’s horse-drawn carriages could be gone from Central Park within a few years under an agreement reached Tuesday between Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin. The deal sets up a City Council vote on Oct. 22 that would ban the carriages starting June 1, 2028.
The bill, called Romanch’s Law, is named for 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, a tourist from India who died in June after a horse-drawn carriage bolted, collided with another carriage and overturned in Central Park. It would require city officials to draft a transition plan for carriage drivers, owners and stable workers, but it does not guarantee any of them financial compensation.
“The horse carriage industry is coming to an end in New York City. Our administration will make sure workers and owners are protected, and the horses are safe,” Mamdani wrote on X.
Under the legislation, city agencies would have until April 1, 2027, to put together a workforce transition plan covering job placement, career counseling, training and referrals to other transportation and tourism jobs. Officials would also have to look at compensating carriage owners and helping retire the horses, but again, no payments are promised.
Supporters cite safety record
The Central Park Conservancy has previously said the fatal crash involving Mahajan was the eighth horse-related incident in or around the park over roughly 13 months. Days before Mahajan’s death, a carriage horse named Deniz reportedly collapsed and died while pulling tourists.
Conservancy President and CEO Betsy Smith backed the agreement. “We applaud the City Council for finally taking on this issue. For the Central Park Conservancy, this has always been a matter of public safety. We hope carriages can be phased out efficiently and humanely so that no one else ever suffers the fate of Romanch Mahajan,” she said.
Menin, who the Council says would be the first sitting speaker to support such legislation, framed the move as a balancing act. “We can honor our city’s traditions while recognizing when it’s time to move forward in the interest of public safety, protecting workers, and strengthening our city’s economic vitality,” she said. She added that Mahajan’s death “made clear that the status quo is no longer acceptable.”
PETA, which has campaigned against the carriage industry for years, also welcomed the deal. “This is long overdue, and it can’t come quickly enough,” PETA representative Ashley Byrne said. Byrne pointed to past incidents of horses collapsing in city streets and colliding with vehicles, and cited a figure she said showed more than 70% of New Yorkers support a ban — a number that has not been independently verified.
Union pushes back
The Transport Workers Union criticized the agreement, saying it offers little real support to the people who make their living from the carriages.
“Council Speaker Menin’s bill has no meaningful economic relief for workers. It only says the city should prepare a worker transition plan by April 2027 and include weak measures like job fairs and job counseling,” said TWU International President John Samuelsen.
Samuelsen also accused Menin of using Mahajan’s death to push the ban through. “Council Speaker Menin used the tragic death of a tourist to contrive a public safety crisis. This is disgraceful political opportunism, and Zohran should not simply go along with it, particularly when immigrant families’ livelihoods are being destroyed,” he said.
After Mahajan’s death, TWU Local 100, which represents carriage drivers and owners, had called for tougher driver exams, better training and stronger safety rules rather than an outright ban.
City Hall spokesperson Sneha Choudhary said officials had been working with the Council, unions, drivers, animal welfare advocates and community leaders “to deliver a just transition that protects workers while ending horse-drawn carriages in Central Park once and for all.”
