A carriage horse in New York City crashed into multiple vehicles after bolting out of Central Park. Video shows the horse trotting through the street and hitting a taxi.

The incident happened when the horse named Destiny ran into oncoming traffic shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday through the four-way intersection of Sixth Avenue and West 59th Street. 

Representatives from the nonprofit animal rights organization NYCLASS, short for New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, said people had to jump and run out of the way to avoid being trampled.

Police said four to five unoccupied, unattended cars were hit. No one was hurt, and Destiny was also uninjured. 

The carriage hit a cab with enough force to tear its bumper off, and a Parks Department vehicle also suffered minor damage. 

"It looked aggravated," said Francis Sequeira, who works at Windsor Pharmacy at 6th Avenue and 58th Street, where the collision occurred. 

"There was a speeding Amazon cargo bike, those are new to the park, came head-on to her, very close," TWU Local 100 chief shop steward Christina Hansen said. "She startled and took off." 

Hansen said a veterinarian checked Destiny for injury. 

"Thankfully she's OK. Everybody's OK. We take these things very seriously," Hansen said. 

Not the first runaway horse 

A horse crashed into a sign in Central Park in September. A video showed a person falling out of the carriage and another person jumping out.

Two other horses also got loose from their drivers in May and were running through Central Park unattended. In this incident, a driver broke his wrist trying to catch his horse and needed surgery. 

"Every day that these horses are forced into chaotic Midtown is another day when they can spook and run wild. That is the most basic nature of a horse, to run when frightened," said Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS. 

Battle over the use of horse carriages

The debate over allowing horse-drawn carriages in New York City has been going on for decades.

Former Mayor Eric Adams pushed for the City Council to pass Ryder's Law in 2025. The bill was named after a carriage horse that collapsed in 2022 and died of cancer a few months later.

The law would've phased out the industry by stopping new licenses from being issued and replacing the carriages with electric alternatives. It didn't pass after four members voted against it.

"Members rejected claims the horses were being mistrated," TWU Local 100 said. "They said it was important to protect the livelihood of immigrant carriage drivers." 

Birnkrant feels optimistic the City Council will take another look this session, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani has expressed his support for the law. 

"We can not wait to advance this legislation," Birnkrant said. "It has to happen." 

Union says law banning carriages would impact workers

The union representing carriage drivers said the industry supports the livelihoods of workers and their families. 

"Carriage drivers have the highest responsibility to care for their horses, and this falls far short of our standards. The union notified the Health Department, which is the lead regulatory agency in terms of city oversight, when this incident happened on Thursday. The union is now evaluating what internal actions will be taken regarding this individual driver," TWU Local 100 said in a statement. "The driver said he was standing near the horse. We believe the horse was startled by a fast-moving Amazon delivery vehicle: an e-bike with a cargo trailer." 

TWU International President John Samuelsen previously said the union is calling for a horse stable in Central Park to keep the animals off the streets.