Carriage horses have always been a moral gray area. Now, with the death of an overworked horse and an 18-year-old human who had just graduated high school, calls are getting louder to end this ugly practice for good.
A quick history of carriage horses in Central Park
The designers of Central Park meticulously planned every inch and pathway throughout New York City’s most magnificent green space. This, of course, included specific roadways designed for horse carriages to traverse through the park since it opened in 1858. Such carriages helped wealthy city-dwellers travel from the park’s East to West side with ease, and were the main mode of transportation until the car’s invention decades later.
Once cars became the main mode of transport, the paths for carriages in the park became paved for mass transit. However, the horse carriages remained, sharing the roads with cars, bikers, and pedestrians alike. A particularly terrifying part of the current tradition includes carriage drivers transporting their horses outside of the park and through traffic (seen here on 5th Ave below) as vehicles whiz by. No animal should be subjected to this.
For decades, animal rights activists have been advocating for the ban of these rides entirely but have not yet succeeded. In 2014, Mayor Bill De Blasio’s promise to disband the horse and carriage industry in New York City ultimately failed, but brought new attention to the matter.
Carriage horse Deniz collapses and dies
2026 has provided Central Park with an increase of horrific horse carriage events this year, unfortunately.
On June 9th, a carriage horse named Deniz collapsed in the park and died a little less than ten minutes later, horrifying onlookers and causing a spike in concerned city-dwellers about the conditions of said horses.
At the time, the Executive Director of the nonprofit New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets told the New Yok Post, “That horse, without a doubt, had an agonizing death right in front of everyone. People will never forget seeing that happen.”
Animal advocates jumped into action, with Ryder’s Law at the forefront: a piece of legislation named after a carriage horse named Ryder who died in 2022.
City council member Chris Marte, seen above in the suit and sneakers, told City and State NY about why he was advocating for the law. “This is about where our morals lie as a city. Let’s make sure that we’re not waiting another month, another year, another decade to end this practice that should have ended a long time ago.”
However, by June 16th, an autopsy showed that Deniz died after eating toxic yew berries and some of the commotion died down temporarily, but not before people on social media started calling out the sad sate of the carriage horse living quarters.
Teen dies in Central Park carriage horse mishap
Days later, a teenager from India, Romanch Mahajan, was killed in a crash while riding in a horse-drawn carriage with his family in Central Park. According to reports, the 18-year-old was attempting to check on his mother, who was thrown from the carriage while the driver was taking a picture of the family.
A still from NBC New York’s coverage of the horrific event shows the aftermath.
A statement from the Transport Workers Union Local 100 in response to the crash reads, “A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos — ever. We support a full investigation.” Photo opportunity or not, the sad situation exemplifies how quickly things can go wrong when large, living animals are in the mix.
Of the sad occasion, Council member Marte said, “Enough is enough. This is yet another serious and terrifying incident involving a carriage horse in Central Park, and it should make clear to everyone that delay is no longer defensible.” Carriage rides were suspended for the rest of the week.
Sadly, horse-drawn carriage rides have since resumed as of June 23rd, 2026, but that doesn’t mean the story is over. Both tragic events taking place less than one month apart are upping the pressure on government officials to ban carriage horses forever.
Here’s how you can help…
Easy ways to help pass Ryder’s Law
- Spread the word:
- Talk to friends and family about the law
- Post on socials:
- Share stories about Ryder’s Law (including this one)
- Watch and like posts and videos promoting Ryder’s Law
- Reach out to your local politicians:
- In NYC? Ask your City Councilmember to support Ryder’s Law (Intro 0943).
- Non-NYC resident? Sign the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s petition.
Let’s get these horses out of the park off the roads, and into a sanctuary where they belong. 💚
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