Zohran Mamdani and Julie Menin announced on Tuesday that they had reached a deal to phase out horse-drawn carriages in New York City, setting up a vote next week on a bill that would ban carriage operations beginning in June 2028. The move would put a date on the end of a trade that still lines up horses at Central Park to take families and tourists for rides.
The deal lands after renewed public safety scrutiny over the industry, which intensified in June when 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan was killed from a fall. The bill was later renamed Romanch’s Law, a signal that the political push now carries the name of the young man whose death brought fresh attention to the carriage business.
For supporters, the ban is a response to long-running worries about safety and animal welfare. For opponents, it is a direct threat to a business they say has survived for generations. Animal rights activists have accused carriage drivers of mistreating horses. Drivers and owners say the horses are properly cared for and that the city is preparing to destroy livelihoods that depend on the trade.
Frank Riccobono, who said he owns 12 horses and three carriages, argued that the bill would not take the horses away from their owners. Instead, he said, owners could keep, sell or transfer the animals as long as they are not sent to slaughter, another carriage business or any inhumane purpose. He said he bought a medallion for nearly $400,000 and warned that the city was forcing a 168-year-old tradition to surrender.
Riccobono also said the proposal treats carriage operators unfairly when other kinds of street traffic remain in place. He said, “You have pedicabs flying around, so why are they permitted to have a business?” and added that the bill shows the city is trying to criminalize carriage operators simply because a horse is working.
The dispute is now moving to a vote, and that makes the next week decisive for the industry. If the bill passes, the countdown to June 2028 begins, and the city will have chosen a fixed end date for a business that has become both a tourist fixture and a political target in New York City.
