Family of Teen Killed in Carriage Crash Calls for End of Central Park Horse Rides

Grieving relatives of a teenage tourist killed in a Central Park horse carriage crash last week pleaded Monday with Mayor Zohran Mamdani to immediately shut down the industry on the eve of the rides resuming.

Days after the death of 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, his loved ones called the planned Tuesday return of the rides in the park “a profound insult to our family” in a letter to Mamdani that was read aloud at a Central Park vigil for the tragic teen.

The carriage rides were suspended for several days after the death, with the animals let out of their stables only for needed exercise. 

“You have stated your support for ending this industry, now it’s time to act,” read the letter to the mayor from Romanch’s relatives. “We demand that you use the full power of your office to halt the resumption of these rides immediately.”

The teenager, whose family was visiting the city from India, was fatally injured last Wednesday when he was thrown from a carriage after a horse broke loose from its handler and bolted down the West Drive.

The June 17 crash marked the eighth time in just over a year that working horses have been involved in on-the-job incidents in Central Park, according to the Central Park Conservancy — but it’s believed to be the first fatality of a person since carriages began operating in the park in the 1850s.

“Allowing horse carriages back onto the streets while our family is planning a funeral proves that the city values tourism over human life,” said the letter, which was read aloud by City Councilmember Christopher Marte.

Marte recently reintroduced legislation to ban horse carriages in the city and said Monday that the bill once known as “Ryder’s Law” is being renamed in honor of Mahajan. 

Council Speaker Julie Menin has called for a July 15 hearing on the proposal that Marte said could affect up to 100 carriage horses and the jobs of 68 to 80 horse-carriage drivers.

“Typically, what we’ve seen is every administration from the de Blasio administration make promises that were never kept,” Marte said. “But now, we have an opportunity to really pass this legislation and permanently end this practice here in Central Park.”

Marte’s comments referenced a campaign promise Bill de Blasio made as a candidate for mayor to ban the carriages. In City Hall, he never saw through the pledge. 

The new mayor’s press office said that ending an industry regulated by local law would have to be done in tandem with the City Council.

“We look forward to working with City Council, union partners, carriage drivers, animal welfare advocates and community leaders to deliver a just transition that protects workers while ending horse-drawn carriages in Central Park once and for all,” said Dora Pekec, a mayoral spokesperson.

During the days-long pause on rides, Transport Workers Union Local 100 — which represents the horse-carriage operators — said the drivers attended “refresher training” to go over safety rules and protocols on how to secure the horses at all times.

Passenger tours are set to resume Tuesday, with the union calling for hitching posts to be installed in the park as what it called a “commonsense safety upgrade.”

“We will have safety teams in the park [Tuesday] when drivers return to service to provide oversight and retraining,” said Alexander Kemp, administrative vice president of TWU Local 100. 

Another pending bill, from Councilmember James Gennaro (D-Queens) calls for implementation of safety measures that would not eliminate the carriage drivers. Those include new training programs and tougher testing for license applicants. 

Critics of the carriages, who have tried for years to end the rides in Central Park, said regulations and reforms are not enough to prevent horses from being jolted.

Edita Birnkrant, executive director of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, an organization that has long sought to have the rides ended, predicted another tragedy “will happen again.”

“Horses spook and run, that’s their DNA,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how long they’ve been a carriage horse, it doesn’t how long the carriage driver has been working.”

TWU Local 100 said last week that the horse involved in the fatality that killed the teenage tourist will be retired from the business, while the carriage driver has been suspended indefinitely. 

Romanch’s death came days after the death along the West Drive of a 16-year-old horse that the TWU said chomped on a plant in the park that a necropsy cited as “highly toxic to horses.”

The back-to-back incidents once again put the spotlight on horse-drawn carriages that have endured previous shutdown attempts and generated passionate arguments from the industry’s critics and boosters.

The Central Park Conservancy, which oversees the 843-acre park, is among those that have come out in favor of expelling horse-drawn carriages.

“We are profoundly moved that the family has lent their name to legislation which we support in the name of public safety and public health,” said David Saltonstall, the conservancy’s vice president for government relations, policy and community affairs. “We don’t ever want to be standing here again at another tragedy.”

Marte said the bill, as currently written, would give the City Council up to two years to help horse-carriage industry workers transition into new jobs. 

“What I want is to end this practice immediately,” he said. “We don’t think it should take another two years where we can allow the risk to be living in our park and in our city.” 

Romanch’s family was preparing Monday to say goodbye to the young man, who was described in their letter as a “bright, brave 18-year-old with his whole life ahead of him” who “acted with pure selflessness” while trying to save his mother.

“No family shall ever travel to New York City for vacation and return home mourning,” their letter said.

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