By Maria Tsvetkova
NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) – The New York City Council voted on Thursday to ban horse-drawn carriages from city streets and Central Park beginning in June 2028, ending a historic tourist attraction and long-standing industry.
Out of the city’s 51 lawmakers, 40 supported the bill, which was backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who earlier this month said the horse-drawn carriage industry would come to an end. Seven council members voted against it and two abstained.
Support for the ban grew after the death this summer of Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old tourist from India. Mahajan was thrown from a carriage and died on June 17, when the horse bolted after the driver stepped away to take a picture of Mahajan’s family.
President Donald Trump, who has both attacked Mamdani and held cordial meetings with him, expressed skepticism about the ban.
“When there is a car accident in the area, of which there are many, they don’t stop cars from entering the Park. So why would they stop the Carriages? It was a Great Tradition. Another piece of History that’s gone. It will be missed!” Trump, whose business empire is headquartered in Trump Tower, minutes from Central Park, wrote on Truth Social.
The bill requires the city to develop a transition plan for the workforce by April and to consider a program to compensate carriage operators for their businesses and help with the disposition of their horses. Under the proposal, the horses could not be slaughtered.
The day before the vote, the Transport Workers Union, which represents carriage business owners and drivers, said that if the bill is enacted, it will seek a temporary restraining order from a court “the minute the ink dries,” according to a letter sent to New York City Corporation Counsel Steve Banks.
“This may be the first time in City history that a previously licensed profession was banned,” the letter signed by principal attorney Arthur Schwartz said. “The proposed bill deprives the owner of all economically beneficial or productive use of their property.”
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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