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After decades of staying out of the fray, the Central Park Conservancy is stepping into one of the city’s most heated debates—and it’s not mincing words.
On Tuesday, the nonprofit that oversees Central Park formally urged city officials to ban horse-drawn carriages. In a letter addressed to Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Conservancy President Betsy Smith threw her support behind Ryder’s Law, a proposed bill that would shut down the carriage industry by June 2026.
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The shift is significant. The conservancy has long avoided taking a position on the issue. But now, it’s calling the carriages a public safety risk—and a relic the park no longer has room for.
“We do not take this position lightly,” Smith wrote. “But with visitation to the park growing to record levels, we feel strongly that banning horse carriages has become a matter of public health and safety.”
In the letter, Smith cited two recent incidents. One involved a spooked horse running loose through the park. A week later, two others crashed into parked pedicabs, injuring a driver. She also pointed to lingering piles of manure and what she described as disregard for park signage.
“These events underscore the unpredictable nature of horses in an increasingly crowded and dynamic urban environment, and the risk to public safety can no longer be responsibly overlooked,” she wrote.
The response from the carriage industry was swift—and angry.
John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union International, accused the conservancy of elitism and of trying to erase a piece of New York’s identity, referring to the group as the “corporate aristocrats at the Central Park Conservancy.”
Samuelsen wasn’t the only one who pushed back. Christina Hansen, a driver and spokesperson for TWU Local 100, said the conservancy is blowing things out of proportion. She claimed the horse incidents were rare, that the damage to the roads is overstated, and that the real hazard comes from speeding e-bikes and illegal motorized pedicabs.
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“There are many problems with the park drives,” Hansen said. “But the carriages aren’t one of them.”
Still, momentum is shifting. Animal rights group NYCLASS applauded the conservancy’s move, calling it “a strong public stand.” The group’s executive director, Edita Birnkrant, added: “Central Park, one of the busiest attractions in the city, is no place for an 1800s relic in 2025.”
The city’s carriage industry includes 68 licensed owners, 183 horses, and more than 200 drivers and stablehands. Rides start at just over $72 for 20 minutes.
And the debate isn’t new—but it’s freshly urgent.
Just last week, a 15-year-old horse named Lady collapsed and died near the park after a two-hour shift. An investigation is ongoing.
For now, Ryder’s Law remains a proposal. Whether the conservancy’s endorsement will push it forward—or deepen the divide—is up to the City Council.
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DiBlasio ran on banning horse drawn carriages, a promise he never kept. It’s past time to ban these.