Horse carriage overturns in Central Park, injuring driver and renewing Ryder's Law debate
A horse carriage overturned in New York City Monday afternoon, injuring a carriage driver.
The incident involving two horses, named Troy and Otis, happened at around 4:40 p.m. at the entrance to Central Park at Seventh Avenue and 59th Street.
What happened in Central Park
The carriage pulled by the horse named Otis flipped after the carriage pulled by Troy collided with it.
According to Edita Birnkrant of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS, an animal rights organization, the horse named Troy became "violently spooked" before the collision.
Christina Hansen, shop steward for TWU Local 100, which represents carriage horse drivers, said Troy had pulled his carriage to the back of a line of carriages to drop off riders. After the riders were out, Troy "went to pull out in a hurry," and collided into the carriage in front of him.
Hansen said the horse was still getting acclimated.
"He was just like, 'I'm out of here,'" Hansen said. "He's new, and the two back wheels of the carriages collided, and Troy pulled the other carriage in front of him over ... Unfortunately, the driver of the carriage was on the carriage when it fell over, and he's been injured. He's been taken to the hospital."
Both horses were OK and no riders were hurt. Police remained on the scene, while Troy was taken back to his stall in Hell's Kitchen.
Another call for Ryder's Law
While the horse carriage drivers said this was just another day on the job, animal advocacy groups reaffirmed their long-standing position against carriage rides in New York City.
NYCLASS called upon the City Council to again take up Ryder's Law. The legislation, named after a carriage horse that died several months after collapsing on city streets, was defeated in a committee vote last November.
"NYCLASS is urgently calling on Speaker [Julie] Menin and the City Council to immediately reintroduce and fast track Ryder's Law before more people or horses are seriously injured or killed," the group said in a statement.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani previously said he supports removing carriage horses from Central Park, but the weight of the decision rests on the City Council.
"Today there was both a heat advisory and an air quality alert in effect, yet these horses were still being forced to work in dangerous conditions," Birnkrant said in a statement. "These incidents keep happening because horses are prey animals who do not belong in chaotic city traffic."
"It's really sad what happened today with the incident with the horse and carriage. This is what we've been fighting for, the last 23 years, to relieve these horses in Central Park to a safer sanctuary. It's really appalling that in 2026 we're still doing this in New York City," said Helen David, also with NYCLASS.
"They don't think that horses and humans belong together. So to them this is just something that advances a legislative agenda. They don't care about people. They don't care about animals. They only care about advancing their agenda, which is to get rid of the carriage horses," Hansen said.
The TWU has previously proposed stabling the horses in the park to keep them away from city traffic.
