New York City Council votes to ban horse-drawn carriages
New York City Council has voted to ban horse-drawn carriages, a sight commonly seen in Central Park, due to public safety and horse welfare concerns. The ban will come into effect on 1 June 2028.The vote took place last month following years of campaigning by animal-rights activists who were worried about the treatment of the horses several have died while working in recent years.Previously a ban has lacked support from city council members and experienced resistance from unions representing the carriage drivers who were concerned about what would happen to the livelihoods of the carriage drivers if the activity was made illegal.Romanchs LawMomentum for the ban increased in the summer after a tourist who was visiting New York with his family fell out of a carriage and died.The ban has been named after the young man, Romanch Mahajan, who was just 18 when the fatal accident occurred. His family were at the city council hearing when lawmakers voted to pass the bill. According to the Central Park Conservancy, the private, not-for-profit organisation that manages Central Park, Romanchs death was the ninth carriage-related incident in just over a year.New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani supports the ban and has agreed to develop a transition plan out of the industry for carriage drivers.The bill prohibits the horses from being sold for slaughter or to other carriage-driving businesses.City life is incompatible with horse carriagesOver the past 150 years, the life of the city has dramatically changed, said Betsy Smith, Central Park Conservancy President and CEO.Our population is nearly nine million, and Central Park sees some 40 million visits each year as people run, walk, bike, and make memories in this beloved urban green space. It is a volume of activity unthinkable to Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the Parks designers, and it is fundamentally incompatible with the presence of horse carriages.In the modern era, carriages pose a serious and even fatal safety risk to Park visitors, carriage drivers, and the horses themselves. Our hearts break for the family of Romanch Mahajan, who stepped into a carriage earlier this summer and never thought he might lose his life.Dozens of cities around the world, from London to Las Vegas, have moved beyond horse-drawn carriages. Today, New York City finally joins them, and charts a safer future for every New Yorker and for Central Park, which we remain determined to protect as a sanctuary from the pace and pressures of city life for all.Image Shutterstock.More from Your HorseTop tips for introducing hacking to an ex-racehorseHorse field management: essential paddock careBeware sycamore seeds this autumn: important vet advice about atypical myopathyEssential horse worming schedule and management tips from a vetThe post New York City Council votes to ban horse-drawn carriages appeared first on Your Horse.
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