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NYC carriage horse drivers make last stand at marathon City Hall hearing
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Stephen Nessen
Published Jul 15, 2026
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Stephen Nessen / Gothamist
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jul 15, 2026
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Carriage horse industry supporters charged into City Hall on Wednesday to urge city councilmembers to say “neigh” to a bill that would abolish horse-drawn rides in New York City.
The legislation would phase out carriage rides in Central Park by June 2028 and establish a “workforce development program” for the 208 workers currently licensed to drive the buggies.
Similar proposals have been floated for decades. But after 18-year-old Indian tourist Romanch Mahajan died after falling from a runaway horse carriage last month, lawmakers demanded a new hearing on the bill, which they renamed “Romanch’s Law.”
And on Tuesday, City Council Speaker Julie Menin came out in favor of the legislation, sending carriage horse operators reeling.
Hundreds of people attended the hearing, which began at 10 a.m. and dragged on into the evening. They included many animal rights advocates who want to ban carriage horses from the city — as well as a cavalry of top hat-wearing carriage supporters organized by TWU Local 100, which represents the buggy drivers.
“ Public hearings should exist to inform legislative decisions, not simply ratify decisions that have already been made like a kangaroo court,” said TWU Local 100 Political Director Sharase DeBouse. “Our members deserve due process. They deserve to be heard before the city council votes to eliminate their livelihoods.”
The city’s previous two mayors unsuccessfully attempted to ban carriage horses, largely due to the influence of Local 100, which also represents subway and bus workers. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has also said he supports ending the rides, so long as lawmakers help find new employment for the drivers.
New York City's carriage horse drivers may have to find a new line of work if the City Council abolishes the practice.
Photo by: Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Despite affecting a small fraction of the city’s workforce and public space, the massive turnout at Wednesday’s hearing showed how sensitive a political subject the carriage horse industry has become in New York.
The proceeding even brought out the stars.
“ They [carriage horses] have the right to a God-given, if that's what you believe, life, just as we do,” actress Edie Falco, known for her role in “The Sopranos,” said at the hearing as she testified in favor of the ban. “ The fact that there's anybody in this room that can look at an animal with the apparatus and the carriage and the people and the traffic and the sounds and the smells and the heat and say, ‘Sure, yeah, that's reasonable.’ The first time I saw that 40 years ago, I thought, ‘What is this?’"
The Council also heard testimony from Romanch Mahajan's father, Deepak Mahajan.
“ I cannot properly describe to you the real true fear inside that carriage. It was shaking. It was speeding. There was no one holding the reins, and we could do nothing but hold on to each other and scream,” Mahajan said over Zoom from India. “My wife fell. Romanch tried to help his mother, and he too fell. Then he hit his head on the ground, and he did not move.”
Still, supporters of the carriage horse industry argued that the business is an essential part of New York City and should be reformed, not abolished.
“ Horses helped build this very building 200 years ago,” said Christina Hansen, a carriage horse driver and organizer for Local 100.
She pointed to a painting of George Washington with his horse, Blueskin, in the Council chamber to emphasize her point.
It remains unclear exactly how the proposed “workforce development program” to find new jobs for the carriage horse drivers would work. Several drivers at the hearing doubted the city could find them a good job, noting they currently make around $60,000 to $70,000 a year.
“ I don't need to be told to go work in a hotel or something like that,” Hansen said. “I am a horse person, so will the city be giving me a job with one of your police horses?”
Tagged
Politics
new york city
parks
transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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