New York City Council Votes to Phase Out Central Park's Horse-Drawn Carriages

In the United States, the New York City Council has voted 40-7, with two abstentions, to end horse-drawn carriage rides in the city. The bill, known as Romanch's Law, stops new carriage licences from being issued and phases out existing ones by June 2028, giving the roughly 180 affected horses and 200 drivers, owners and stable hands close to two years before the ban takes effect.

The vote followed the death in June of Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old visitor from India, after a carriage horse bolted in Central Park; he is believed to be the first person killed in a horse-drawn vehicle accident in the park in close to a century. The Central Park Conservancy recorded several further carriage incidents in the following year. Both city and state law already bar the carriage horses from being sold for slaughter, and animal welfare groups, including Humane World for Animals, have said rescues and sanctuaries have offered to take in horses affected by the closure; PETA has pledged $50,000 toward their retirement.

The bill also requires the city to produce a worker transition plan covering job placement, training and financial support for drivers and stable staff. The Transport Workers Union, which represents many of the drivers, opposed the ban and has said it will challenge it in court, arguing the transition measures are inadequate. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he supports the bill's aims but has not confirmed whether he will sign it; he has 30 days to do so, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature. For breeders and owners elsewhere, the case is a reminder that how working equines are kept, and the safeguards in place for their retirement, continues to shape public and political attitudes toward horse welfare more broadly.