New York City Council Set to Decide on Carriage Horse Ban

A significant vote is scheduled for Thursday in the New York City Council, where lawmakers are likely to decide on a bill aimed at prohibiting the longstanding carriage horse industry, which has been part of the city for 150 years.

While many indications suggest the ban will pass, the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which represents carriage drivers, criticized the legislation, asserting plans to challenge its constitutionality. The TWU highlighted that the bill would render medallions, purchased for significant amounts by horse operators, effectively worthless.

Deepak Mahajan, father of Romanch Mahajan—an 18-year-old who tragically died in June during a carriage ride—expressed hopes that the vote would honor his son’s memory. He emphasized the need for safety and called for a complete ban on horse-drawn carriages, anticipating that members of the Mahajan family would attend the City Council meeting.

Should the bill pass, it would not be fully implemented until June 2028, at which point current licenses for driving carriage horses will expire.