Central Park Carriage Rides Resume After 6-Day Halt as Fatal Fall Fuels 2028 Ban Push
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 28
Central Park Carriage Rides Resume After 6-Day Halt as Fatal Fall Fuels 2028 Ban Push
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 28
Summary
Tuesday’s restart ended a six-day voluntary shutdown by Central Park carriage drivers after 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan died in a June 17 fall from a carriage.
That death — described by the Central Park Conservancy as the park’s first known human fatality tied to a horse-carriage accident — has sharply escalated pressure to end the rides.
July is now the next political flashpoint: City Council Speaker Julie Menin said lawmakers will hold a hearing on a bill that would ban horse carriages by June 2028.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani backed ending the trade “once and for all,” saying he would work on a transition plan with the council, drivers, unions and animal-welfare advocates.
Tensions were already visible in the park on Wednesday, when a critic confronted drivers and accused them of animal abuse as rides resumed.