NYC Officially Begins Phase Out Of Horse-Drawn Carriages On City Streets After Council Vote With Mayor’s Confirmed Support

Editor’s note: During Mayor Adam’s term, there was high support for this ban, but it didn’t pass the Council until this new session.  So now this industry must move out of the city, where many believe horses didn’t really belong.  People driving in cars didn’t respect horses, backing up into them and causing injuries. That’s on top of the startling and unpredictable nature of this city’s streets, including within and around Central Park.  These horses were also allegedly abused and neglected in countless cases, often dying of neglect, disease,  or heat or cold related issues, but the animal welfare laws aren’t very strong, so there were never any consequences regardless of if such abuse caused death or injury. The stables were alleged to be not well maintained, along with their poor treatment on the street with whips and other implements to try to force the horses to continue to work if they felt sick or were in pain.   For those involved in animal rights organizations, this lack of protection is frustrating. It left no solution for the horses except to give them blanket protections by banning this industry, as has now occurred.  

Below you’ll hear from the borough president of Staten Island, along with PETA and the Mayor.  Unfortunately, as you can see below, these drivers are medallion owners.  If there is no actual buyback or straight transfer to another type of vehicle or loan forgiveness program for these drivers, there may be a similar situation looming for them like what New York City itself did to yellow taxi cab drivers when it let ridesharing companies essentially rewrite the rules (no need for commercial or TLC licenses for drivers, among many other perks and allowances for these companies, allowing them to then quickly destroy the yellow cab market and invert the medallion industry, leading to driver suicides and bankruptcies and ruined livelihoods). We will be reaching out to the TLC for more details on this matter. The Transport Workers Union, of which the carriage horse drivers are members, has promised a lawsuit stating that it violates the state constitution or city’s charter by essentially discarding these workers without any legal mandate to help them transition to another career having stripped them of their livelihood.   The medallions they paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for which have been now rendered valueless, again without plan for recompense, where some drivers paid upwards of $300,000 for these highly limited and sought after properties that were legally mandated in order to have a carriage:

On October 22nd, the City Council voted to pass Romanch’s Law, phasing out the use of horse drawn carriage on city streets. PETA said the following: 

Moments ago, the New York City Council voted 40-7 to pass Romanch’s Law, which consigns the city’s horse-drawn carriage industry to the history books by June 1, 2028. At a news conference just before the vote, PETA joined Speaker Julie Menin at City Hall Park and announced that it will donate $50,000 toward the horses’ future care.

PETA has fought for this bill for over four decades, and today’s landmark legislation comes after a campaign involving protests, voter involvement, billboards, and support from hundreds of thousands of PETA supporters, including lifelong New Yorker and PETA Honorary Director Edie Falco, who testified in support of the bill. Below, please find a statement from PETA Director Ashley Byrne:

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“It’s the end of the road for a vile industry that has forced horses to haul heavy carriages through chaotic traffic and punishing weather until they collapsed and died. Speaker Menin did what no sitting Council speaker before her had the hutzpah to do: She chose the horses’ welfare over greed, pushed the bill forward, and delivered the decisive leadership needed to get Romanch’s Law across the finish line and the beleaguered horses off the streets. PETA salutes her determination, thanks Mayor Mamdani for his stalwart support and his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition, and is proud to mark this victory by putting up $50,000 to help these horses retire to greener pastures.”