After 150 Years, New York City's Carriage Horses Are Finally Getting To Retire.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin reached a deal on legislation that will end the city's horse-drawn carriage industry by June 1, 2028, concluding a practice that has operated in and around Central Park for more than 150 years. The bill, known as Romanch's Law, is expected to pass the City Council with a clear majority and represents the culmination of years of advocacy by animal welfare organizations who argued that horses navigating the noise, traffic, and conditions of modern Manhattan were living in circumstances far removed from what the animals need to thrive. Animal welfare group NYCLASS, which has been pushing for the ban across multiple mayoral administrations, called the agreement a historic protection for the horses and the people who share New York City's streets with them. The legislation includes specific protections for what happens to the animals once the industry closes: horse owners are legally required to notify the Mayor's Office of Animal Welfare before disposing of any animals, and the bill explicitly prohibits horses from being sold or transferred for slaughter or for use in any other horse-drawn business. The horses that have worked these streets cannot simply be passed along to another working life in another city.
The phase-out is structured to give the industry time to wind down responsibly, with the ban taking full effect on June 1, 2028, and a transition framework built into the legislation to help workers move into new employment. Mayor Mamdani designated a city agency to oversee the transition and identified potential job pathways across the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, the MTA, NYC Transit, the Port Authority, and the hospitality and tourism industries, recognizing that many of the workers in the carriage trade are immigrant families who have built their livelihoods around the industry and deserve real support in finding what comes next. The bill's primary sponsor, Councilman Chris Marte, said the legislation represents a moment where the city has chosen to move forward, acknowledging the history and the tradition while also choosing something better for both the animals and the people who live alongside them. Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS, said the moment belonged to every advocate and supporter who had spent years fighting for it. For the horses themselves, 2028 means something straightforward: the last carriage ride, and then a life that is finally and completely their own.
