Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
The Central Park Conservancy wants horse-drawn carriages banned. Its poll says NYC agrees.
By
Apolline Lamy
Published Jul 9, 2026
Modified Jul 9, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
By
Apolline Lamy
Published Jul 9, 2026
Modified Jul 9, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A poll commissioned by the group that manages much of Central Park says most New Yorkers support ending horse-drawn carriages in the city — bolstering the not-for-profit's own position as the City Council considers a new push to end the practice.
The poll was conducted just weeks after the death of 18-year-old Indian tourist Romanch Mahajan in the runaway carriage incident, and found most respondents had heard about his death. According to the Central Park Conservancy, which began calling to end the use of the carriages in the park last year, 68% of respondents support barring the practice.
This Conservancy is releasing the poll just days ahead of a July 15 City Council health committee hearing about a bill prohibiting the carriages. The poll also found 20% of respondents were opposed to banning horse-drawn carriages, and 12% were undecided.
But the union that represents carriage drivers, Transport Workers Union Local 100, said its own polling suggests the opposite of the Conservancy's.
"We believe most New Yorkers, when provided with unbiased information, oppose a ban," Alexander Kemp, the administrative vice president of TWU Local 100, said in a statement to Gothamist. "They don't want to see immigrant carriage drivers, owners and their families economically wiped out. They don't want to see carriage horses forced into unpredictable and dangerous futures. They know that some would very likely end up at slaughter auctions or be euthanized.”
Council Member Christoper Marte, who represents Lower Manhattan, is leading a renewed push for what’s now being called Romanch's Law, which would prohibit any new licenses for carriages from being issued after June 1, 2028. Last year, the Council shot down a similar prohibition, then named for Ryder, a horse that collapsed on the street and was later euthanized.
Calls to ban horse-drawn carriages have persisted for years, over the objections of TWU 100, which has argued horses are both well cared-for and an integral part of the Central Park culture. Then-Mayor De Blasio vowed in 2014 to remove horse-drawn carriages from Central Park, without success.
David Saltonstall, vice president for government relations at the Central Park Conservancy, said the nonprofit took a position against the carriages last year after a series of “scary incidents in the park."
“Every couple of months, based on the data of the last year, a horse breaks free in Central Park, and if we wait another couple of months there's going to be another incident,” he said.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani also favors removing the carriages from Central Park.
Kemp wrote in an opinion piece published in the New York Daily News this week that a ban would threaten the welfare of 200 horses, and argued the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has failed to adequately enforce existing rules meant to keep horses from straying.
He advocated in the piece for another bill, sponsored by Councilmember James F. Gennaro of Queens, that would instead step up regulations on the industry — with stricter requirements for testing and training. He called a brief reference to a requirement for a workforce development program in Romanch’s Law’s a “feel-good farce”.
According to the Conservancy, Zenith Research conduct the poll in late June and early July, collecting results via text-to-web interviews and an opt-in online panel from about 830 respondents.
Saltonstall argued the poll was the first conducted without an agenda, comparing it to previous surveys by the union or an animal welfare organization. TWU spokesperson Pete Donohue scoffed at that assertion, citing the Conservancy's ongoing advocacy for a ban.
The new poll found 44% of respondents strongly agreed with the proposal to ban the carriages, and only 9% respondents strongly opposed it. Adam Carlson, a founding partner for Zenith Research, said that indicates “ the passion on this is on the side of people who want it banned.”
Horse-drawn carriages have been part of the city’s culture for about two centuries, according to the city Parks Department. In 1837, it would cost just 5 cents to ride from City Hall to Harlem on a carriage. But Saltonstall said "nostalgia cannot trump public safety.”
“We have a public safety threat that needs to be mitigated," he said.
This story has been updated with more information.
Tagged
Politics
business
economy
immigration
manhattan
new york city
parks
Apolline Lamy
Apolline Lamy is a reporting intern on the Day-of Desk. She is studying for her master's degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .