Carriage horse bolts into Midtown traffic crashes into cars

Calls for Action on Horse Carriage Ban in NYC

MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) — There are renewed calls for action on a law to ban horse carriages in New York City after a runaway carriage horse crashed into several vehicles in Midtown last week.

Video provided by NYCLASS on Monday shows a startled horse running out of Central Park and into traffic on Sixth Avenue in Midtown last Thursday.

The police say the incident happened just before 11:30 a.m. Four or five unattended vehicles were struck.

The union representing horse carriage drivers, TWU Local 100, stated that the incident falls short of their standards.

The driver reported he was near the horse when it was startled by a fast-moving delivery vehicle. Officials say the union is now evaluating what internal actions will be taken regarding the driver.

No injuries were reported. However, advocates pointed out the history of similar incidents and said there have already been too many.

“These violent incidents keep happening because forcing horses attached to carriages into chaotic city streets is fundamentally incompatible with their nature. It is not going to change,” said Edita Birnkrant, Executive Director of NYCLASS. “People have already been injured, including carriage passengers, carriage drivers, and pedestrians, and many have had to run for their lives to avoid being trampled.”

Ryder’s Law would phase out horse-drawn carriages, but it is stalled in the City Council.

NYCLASS is calling on the Mamdani administration to move forward with the ban, stating its passage is “long overdue.”

The TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President released a statement in response to NYCLASS’s call for a carriage horse ban:

“Special interest groups have been trying to ban carriage horses for nearly two decades. It’s time to turn the page and come together to improve even further the good care the horses currently receive while also protecting carriage-driver jobs by which an overwhelmingly immigrant workforce puts food on the table and takes care of their families.”