NYC Council bans horse carriages in veto-proof vote that will end 150-year-old Central Park tradition

Horse-drawn carriages will be banned in New York City after the City Council approved a new bill Thursday that will end a Central Park tradition that’s endured for more than 150 years.The ban passed in a veto-proof 40-7 vote, with two council members abstaining – despite a last-minute attempt to amend the proposal and push the ban back in 2030.The ban will take hold on June 1, 2028 and outlaw horse-drawn carriages across all five boroughs.That means about 200 carriage drivers will see their livelihoods – and entire industry – vanish from the city without a trace in less than two years.Carriage industry workers quickly returned fire with a lawsuit against the ban, zeroing in on the complete lack of monetary compensation in the bill – which only included vague promises of job training for “new economic opportunities.”The vote ends a years-long saga that has drawn headlines in recent summers due to horses that have collapsed or dropped dead after spending hours working through scorching hot days.Such incidents have led to fevered discussions about the conditions the carriage horses are made to work in, with critics arguing they’re inhumane.The controversy came to a head this summer after 18-year-old tourist Romanch Mahajan was killed when a horse carrying his family got spooked and bolted.Mahajan was thrown from the carriage and died – with his family decrying “the industry responsible” for his death.“If [the prior legislation] had passed, the carriages would have stopped on June 1, 2026 — Romanch died on June 17,” his father, Deepak Mahajan, said at a July City Council hearing.“This was not an unpredictable accident.Let his death not be in vain,” he added.

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Council Speaker Jul...