Push for NYC horse carriage ban returns after horse's sudden death in Central Park

Calls to ban horse carriages in New York City are growing after a horse collapsed and died in Central Park Tuesday.

Police responded to 72nd Street near Central Park West where they confirmed the horse died.

TWU Local 100, which represents carriage horse drivers, called it a sudden, catastrophic medical emergency.

"I really feel like I lost someone in the family"

The horse was named Deniz, a 16-year-old gelding. His owner and caretaker Nurettin Kirbiyik released a statement through the union about Deniz's death. 

"I really feel like I lost someone in the family," he said. "He was a beautiful horse. The best. Very friendly with kids. Everyone loved him and wanted to take pictures with him."

According to the union, Kirbiyik said there were no signs Deniz was ill, and he had been eating and drinking normally. Deniz was examined by the NYPD Mounted Unit's veterinarian in March and determined to be fit, the union said. A necropsy will be performed by Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine to determine the cause of death. 

"I'm in shock," Kirbiyik said. 

Carriage horse stables were closed Wednesday. The 68 licensed horse carriages remained in the barns, their harnesses left on the walls as the horses and drivers mourned the sudden death of Deniz. 

"We're closed today because Deniz's sudden death really just hit us really hard," TWU Local 100 shop steward Christina Hansen said. 

Hansen, a carriage horse driver herself, said the decision to stay off the streets was part heartbreak for Deniz and part fear of reprisals. 

"There's lots of people commenting online why they better watch out, let's follow them, we'll do what they did to the horse," Hansen said. 

"Many New Yorkers were disturbed by what they saw"

The controversy around carriage horses has bedeviled seven mayors, all the way back Mayor Ed Koch in the late 1980s, but it really took off when Bill de Blasio campaigned on the issue. 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he supports removing horse carriages from Central Park. 

"I look forward to working with union partners and community leaders to actually deliver on that. And I know that many New Yorkers were disturbed by what they saw yesterday, and I'm one of them," Mamdani said Wednesday. "I think in Central Park, what we've seen is a lot of concern about the welfare of these horses, and I want to figure out a way for us to actually get to the end of that path." 

The nonprofit group NYCLASS, which has repeatedly called for carriage horses to be banned, held a rally at City Hall to reintroduce Ryder's Law, which would ban horse carriages in the city. An effort to pass Ryder's Law back in November failed. 

"We have to put an end to this practice immediately," City Councilmember Christopher Marte said. "A horse collapsed and in 10 minutes passed away. This isn't some random act. This isn't some outlier. Literally we've been seeing this type of action almost every other week. Whether it's a horse dying, horse collapsing, a horse running away." 

"I'm angry and I'm frustrated that another horse died yesterday. In a system we know doesn't work anymore," City Councilmember Harvey Epstein said. "What we need to do is stop this industry now." 

The Central Park Conservancy also called for the ban. 

"The Central Park Conservancy has long believed horse carriages pose a public safety risk in the increasingly crowded park," the group said in a statement. "Let's pass Ryder's Law and join the rest of the world in banning horse carriages from our busy urban streetscape." 

The Central Park Conservancy pointed to seven horse-related incidents in the park over the past 13 months, including an incident in which a horse carriage overturned when a horse got spooked last month.