Stricken kin of teen tourist killed by horse carriage demand NYC ban rides: Profound insult

Stricken kin of the teen tourist fatally tossed from a Central Park horse carriage demanded Monday that the city ban the industry — saying anything less suggests his death was just “a temporary inconvenience.’’Tragic Romanch Mahajan’s grieving family said in an emotional letter read at a vigil for him in the park that the city needs to take “immediate decisive action … to permanently phase out horse-drawn carriages before another life is lost.“The industry responsible for my nephew’s death is preparing to resume passenger tours this Tuesday, treating the loss of Romanch’s life as a temporary inconvenience,” said Gaurav Mahajan, Romanch’s uncle, in the letter to the mayor’s office.Such a move is a “profound insult to our family and a direct threat to the public safety of every tourist and resident in New York City,” Gaurav said.“Allowing these carriages back onto the streets while our family is planning a funeral proves that the city values an antiquated novelty over human life,” he said.“We demand that you use the full power of your office to halt the resumption of these rides immediately.”A temporary moratorium on the rides was voluntarily instituted by the drivers’ union after Romanch, 18, died during a carriage ride with his parents and little brother Wednesday while in town from India to celebrate his high-school graduation.The carriage driver alleged flouted safety protocols and got out to take photos of the family when the horse bolted.The embattled local industry’s temporary halt on the rides is set to be lifted Tuesday.Monday’s vigil was held in honor of Romanch and also to announce that Ryder’s Law, a bill before City Council that would phase out the horse carriages, was being changed to Romanch’s Law by its latest sponsor, Councilman Chris Marte.Under the bill, it would take two years to phase out the carriages to fully transition their drivers to new jobs, Marte said at the vigil, which was attended by abou...