Dozens of protesters stood outside the gates of City Hall Wednesday morning, chanting protests as a public hearing was scheduled for a bill that would ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park.
Just yesterday, City Council President Julie Menin voiced her support for Romanche Law. The bill is named after Romansh Mahajan, an 18-year-old Indian tourist who died last month after being thrown from a horse-drawn carriage. The move marked a major step toward final approval.
On Wednesday, the health committee will hear testimony from representatives from both sides. But before the hearing, dozens of people stood up against the fence at City Hall on Broadway and held signs that read, “Protect the people, protect the horses. Pass Romanche Law” and “Regulate, don’t ban.”
“I’m here to support what I believe in, and I think we’ve been fighting for a long time in New York City,” Natalie Juris, a veterinarian who traveled from Maine to testify, told USA TODAY.
“New York City in 2026 will be very different from what it used to be, when horses were the primary mode of transportation.”
The ban is not expected to fully take effect until June 2028, according to the bill. The proposal would also prohibit the sale or transfer of horses for slaughter or use within the horse-drawn carriage industry and would “require the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to administer a workforce development program for drivers and other workers in the horse-drawn carriage industry to facilitate their transition to other occupations.”
Angel Gonzalez, vice president of TWU Local 252, a union that came to support horse carriage workers, said he was surprised that Menin announced support for the ban yesterday.
“We don’t want anyone to lose their jobs,” he told USA TODAY. “Labor unions, that’s what we’re here for: to support jobs, to save jobs, to protect jobs.”
For years, activists have called for horse-drawn carriages to be abolished. But the fatal crash involving Mahajan last month was a “tipping point” for Menin, she told The New York Times this week. According to the commission’s report, there are currently 208 valid horse-drawn carriage licenses in New York City.
“I think there will be a lot of compelling arguments in support of this bill,” Kathleen Schatzman, legislative manager for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said at the gates of City Hall.
“This is not a celebration. Lives have been lost… It’s not about just cutting down and running away. It’s about making sure we have a safe long-term home for the animals and a transition for the workers to continue making a living outside of here.”
After the public hearing, lawmakers were scheduled to send the bill to the City Council to decide whether to take it to a full vote. The proposal currently has sponsors in 22 city councils and needs 26 votes to pass.
