Carriage horse collapses, dies in Central Park, renewing calls to ban industry
A carriage horse collapsed and died in Central Park on Tuesday, distressing parkgoers who witnessed it all.
It's renewing a push to ban carriage horses in the city.
Necropsy to be conducted
It happened around 7:30 p.m. on 72nd Street near Central Park West.
Carriage driver Nurettin Kirbiyik said he was giving a carriage ride when Deniz, his 16-year-old horse, collapsed.
"I was going on a run, and I saw a horse on the floor struggling to breathe," witness Clara Bermudz said.
She said moments later, the carriage horse stopped breathing.
"In two seconds, horse died. Just shake and I feel like he's going to pee. He just died," Kirbiyik said. "I lose like somebody from my family."
"I'm shaking now just talking about it," witness Danielle Leeann Chin said. "This is the second time that I've seen a horse carriage incident in 10 months."
Kirbiyik and a spokesperson for TWU Local 100, the union representing carriage horse drivers, said Deniz was in good health and went to the vet back in January.
TWU Local 100 spokesperson Christina Hansen called this a sudden medical emergency and said the horse will be taken to Cornell University for a necropsy.
Reintroducing Ryder's Law
The nonprofit organization New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS) is advocating for Ryder's Law, which would ban horse carriages in New York City. It was named after a horse that collapsed on a Manhattan street back in 2022 and died several months later.
"This is a nightmare," NYCLASS Executive Director Edita Birnkrant said. "Our message to the Speaker Julie Menin and the City Council and the mayor is, we have got to pass Ryder's Law this year. We have another horse that dropped dead in an agonizing death. We've had six violent incidents."
Hansen denied accusations that carriage horses are overworked.
"It's not true. You know, these horses are literally strolling in the park," she said. "They think that any work is overwork. This is an easy job for horses."
The City Council Committee on Health voted against Ryder's Law back in November. NYCLASS said they have scheduled a rally for Wednesday afternoon on the steps of City Hall to reintroduce the law.
