The nonprofit group that manages Central Park in live performance with New York Metropolis has come out in help of a ban on the long-lasting horse-drawn carriages that function within the park.
“We do not take this position lightly, but with visitation to the park growing to record levels, we feel strongly that banning horse carriages has become a matter of public health and safety for Park visitors,” conservancy head Elizabeth Smith mentioned in a letter Tuesday to Mayor Adams and Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.
“It has also become increasingly evident that the 68 carriages licensed to operate in the park inflict enormous damage to its drives, to the detriment of the park’s other, 42 million users,” she wrote.
There are 68 carriages presently approved by the town, and roughly 200 licensed horses, based on a spokeswoman for the Transport Employees Union’s Native 100, which represents roughly 200 drivers and stable-hands.
John Samuelsen, TWU’s worldwide president, referred to as the conservancy’s claims bunk.
“Conservancy President Elizabeth W. Smith’s claim that slow-moving horse carriages pose a threat to public safety is absolutely ridiculous,” Samuelsen mentioned in a press release. “The conservancy has failed miserably to manage the swarming hordes of unlicensed and illegally motorized pedicabs, e-bikes and electric scooters that pose the real threat.”
“The corporate aristocrats at the Central Park Conservancy are now outrageously supporting a measure that would throw about 200 blue-collar workers in the carriage-horse tourism industry out of work, with no regard for how they will pay their rents, mortgages, send their kids to college, put food on the table or meet other expenses,” the union boss added.
Horse carriage driver Ian McKeever provides the thumbs up after he was discovered not responsible of prices July 21, 2025, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Every day Information)
Samuelsen reiterated the union’s name for placing a steady within the park that may maintain horses off of metropolis streets, and accused the conservancy of “desecrating the park’s storied history” by proposing an finish to horse-drawn carriage rides.
Animal-rights advocates have been lobbying to ban carriage horses from working in Central Park for years — an effort that took on better momentum after a horse named Ryder collapsed on a Midtown avenue in 2022.
Carriage driver Ian McKeever was acquitted final month of prices he overworked and tortured Ryder within the months main as much as the equine’s demise.
The new-button issued reignited anew final week after Woman, a 15-year-old carriage horse, died on the road on Aug. 5 whereas returning to her steady in Hell’s Kitchen. Christina Hansen, a carriage horse driver and TWU store steward for the business, reported {that a} necropsy decided Woman possible died from “an aortic rupture” brought on by a small tumor on her adrenal gland.
Particularly, conservancy chief Smith wrote in her letter that the nonprofit is throwing its help behind “Ryder’s Law,” a proposal that has been earlier than the Metropolis Council since 2022. If handed, the regulation would ban further carriage horse licenses and improve regulation of present carriage horses.
“We believe the bill offers a balanced path forward and would urge the Council to hold a hearing and vote on the bill, and for the [Adams] administration to support its passage,” Smith wrote.
“We are not experts on animal welfare and will leave those arguments to others, but we are experts on the park,” she added.
Smith cited two situations of carriage horses getting free in Central Park as proof that the creatures represent a public security danger. Smith additionally cited the damage and tear from horseshoes on the park’s drives, plus the presence of manure.
Animal-rights activists name for the top of animal abuse and an investigation of horse-drawn carriages in Hell’s Kitchen, exterior the Manhattan District Legal professional’s Workplace in Manhattan on Aug. 16, 2022. (Shawn Inglima for New York Every day Information)
“The conservancy is deeply familiar with the history of Central Park and are often the first to raise our voice to protect it from intrusions that detract from that history,” Smith wrote. “But our paramount concern is for the health and safety of the people who love the park, and it is in their name that we respectfully request that we turn the page on horse carriages, just as other major cities across the globe already have.”
Requested to answer the letter, a Metropolis Corridor spokesman mentioned Mayor Adams was “heartbroken” by final week’s demise of a carriage horse, and had tasked First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro with assembly advocates and business representatives within the coming days.
“[W]e’re dedicated to finding a better path forward to prevent tragedies like the one that happened last week,” Zachary Nosanchuk mentioned in a press release. “We are working diligently to bring stakeholders to the table to keep our parks, animals and all New Yorkers safe.”
With Chris Sommerfeldt
Initially Printed: August 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM EDT
