New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and city council Speaker Julie Menin have reached an agreement on legislation to phase out horse-drawn carriages, with a city council vote scheduled for Oct. 22.
If approved, the ban on horse-drawn cabs for hire would take effect June 1, 2028.
The measure, known as “Romanch’s Law,” is named for 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, who died in June after falling from a carriage when a horse bolted in Central Park.
A horse also died in the park earlier that month.
The incidents renewed debate over public safety and animal welfare.
Carriage drivers’ union representatives have opposed a ban.
The bill would stop the city from issuing new licenses for horse-drawn cabs and end their operation by June 2028. It also calls for a workforce development program for carriage drivers and other workers, and requires humane disposition of the horses.
Horse-drawn carriages have been part of Central Park’s design since the 19th century and were part of New York’s transportation system long before the carriage rides became a tourist attraction.
New York City Department of Records says the first horse-drawn omnibus in the country began operating on Broadway in 1832.
Designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux included carriage drives to Central Park, which opened to the public in 1858.
Beginning in the 1860s, fire companies and the Department of Public Charities and Hospitals began using horses to pull equipment.
The Department of Records says police and magistrates’ court records contain numerous cases involving animal abuse, many brought by the city’s ASPCA, founded in 1866.
Horse-drawn passenger vehicles continued on city streets until 1918, declining in popularity as interest in the automobile increased. The number of horses in New York City fell from 128,000 in 1910 to 56,000 in 1920.
Today, carriage operators promote holiday rides largely as a tourist attraction.
The carriages have also appeared in films and television, including “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” in which Kevin McCallister jumps into a carriage near Bethesda Fountain, and “Sex and the City,” which featured Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big on a ride through Central Park.
