The nonprofit organization that manages Central Park in concert with New York City has come out in support of a ban on the iconic horse-drawn carriages that operate in 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 said in a letter Tuesday to Mayor Adams and City 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 currently authorized by the city, and roughly 200 licensed horses, according to a spokeswoman for the Transport Workers Union’s Local 100, which represents roughly 200 drivers and stable-hands.
John Samuelsen, TWU’s international president, called 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 said in a statement. “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.
Samuelsen reiterated the union’s call for putting a stable in the park that would keep horses off of city streets, and accused the conservancy of “desecrating the park’s storied history” by proposing an end to horse-drawn carriage rides.
Animal rights advocates have been lobbying to ban carriage horses from operating in Central Park for years — an effort that took on greater momentum after a horse named Ryder collapsed on a Midtown street in 2022.
Carriage driver Ian McKeever was acquitted last month of charges he overworked and tortured Ryder in the months leading up to the equine’s death.
The hot-button issued reignited anew last week after Lady, a 15-year-old carriage horse, died on the street on Aug. 5 while returning to her stable in Hell’s Kitchen. Christina Hansen, a carriage horse driver and TWU shop steward for the industry, reported that a necropsy determined Lady likely died from “an aortic rupture” caused by a small tumor on her adrenal gland.
In addition, Conservancy President Smith wrote in her letter that the nonprofit is also throwing its support behind “Ryder’s Law,” a proposal that has been before the City Council since 2022. If passed, the law would ban additional carriage horse licenses and increase regulation of existing 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 instances of carriage horses getting loose in Central Park as evidence that the creatures constitute a public safety risk. Smith also cited the wear and tear from horseshoes on the park’s drives, plus the presence of manure.
“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.”
Asked to respond to the letter, a City Hall spokesman said Mayor Adams was “heartbroken” by last week’s death of a carriage horse, and had tasked First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro with meeting advocates and industry representatives in 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 said in a statement. “We are working diligently to bring stakeholders to the table to keep our parks, animals and all New Yorkers safe.”
With Chris Sommerfeldt
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