© picture alliance / NurPhoto | Kyle Mazza
On Thursday, no horse-drawn carriages were operating in Central Park—a staple of many tourists’ visits to New York. The carriage drivers went on strike following the death of 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, a tourist from India, on Wednesday. Calls for a ban on horse-drawn carriages in New York City are gaining momentum once again.
The unfortunate young man fell from a carriage when the horse bolted while the coachman Ertan Gokdepe was taking a photo of the young man with his family. The cause of death was blunt force trauma, classified by the medical examiner as an accident. Alexander Kemp, vice president of the union, said in a statement reported by The New York Times that the members were “absolutely devastated and stunned” and noted that he had “never experienced such a fatal accident.” The union closed the stables and suspended operations for extensive internal discussions about exactly what happened and how it could have been prevented.
The incident has intensified a long-standing conflict between the Transport Workers Union Local 100 and animal rights activists, government officials, and Central Park’s management organization over whether horse-drawn carriages should be banned in New York. Proponents of a ban argue that the practice is outdated and inhumane, while the union says the horses are well cared for and that a ban would cost jobs.
The debate flared up this month following two deaths: first, a horse named Deniz, which ate a poisonous plant, and then Romanch Mahajan. Julie Menin, City Council Speaker, and Lynn Schulman, Chair of the Health Committee, announced a hearing for next month on a bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a statement expressing his support for “a just transition that protects workers while ending horse-drawn carriages.”
Union President John Samuelsen criticized supporters of the ban for allegedly exploiting the tragedy. He called allegations of animal abuse “baseless” and urged that they be “separated” from questions about the coachman’s errors. The union said that Gokdepe had been suspended indefinitely by the carriage owner. Kemp called the coachman’s act of taking photos “unacceptable” and stated: “A coachman should never leave the carriage to take photos. Never.”
The Mahajan family paid $158 for a 45-minute ride with three photo stops. Things went wrong at the third stop: Sampson, a seven-year-old horse who had been working in Central Park for only six weeks, bolted. When his mother fell out of the carriage, Romanch tried to help her, but he hit his head on the ground and died.
Picture: © picture alliance / NurPhoto | Kyle Mazza