Wayne Pacelle applauds Speaker Julie Menin, bill author Christopher Marte, cosponsors, and Council members for advancing landmark legislation to protect horses and improve public safety
NEW YORK — Animal Wellness Action today celebrated the New York City Council’s vote to phase out the city’s horse-drawn carriage industry, marking a major milestone in the decades-long effort to protect horses from the dangers of working in one of the world’s busiest urban environments. The vote was 40 – 7 with two abstentions, and the bill now goes to Mayor Zohran Mamdani for his signature.
The organization applauded Council Speaker Julie Menin for her leadership in bringing the legislation forward, as well as Council Member Christopher Marte, the bill’s author, its cosponsors, and all Council members who supported the measure. The legislation, known as Romanch’s Law, provides for the phaseout of horse-drawn carriages by June 1, 2028, while establishing a transition plan for carriage drivers and other industry workers.
“It’s about damn time,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “As a high school student, I came to Central Park on a field trip and was so depressed seeing the overburdened horses and, in a separate enterprise, tigers and jaguars pacing back and forth in the concrete-and-steel Central Park Zoo. Those zoo exhibits shut down decades ago, and now we will see the carriage horses retired and carriage rides rapidly phased out in the heart of the city. Justice delayed but not denied.”
This is a victory that belongs to the entire animal welfare movement, and especially to our friends at NYCLASS.
“We have been proud to stand alongside our friends at NYCLASS on this issue and are grateful for their tenacity, leadership, and unwavering commitment to protecting these horses,” Pacelle said. “This achievement reflects years of dedicated advocacy and the determination of people who refused to give up on a more humane future for New York City.”
The push to end horse-drawn carriages gained renewed urgency following the deaths of 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, who suffered fatal injuries in a carriage accident in Central Park in June, and Deniz, a 16-year-old carriage horse who died after reportedly consuming poisonous Japanese yew leaves.
Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy have pledged to help identify humane placement options for carriage horses whose owners relinquish them to qualified animal welfare organizations.
“We look forward to working with NYCLASS and other partners to help ensure that these horses have a safe and humane future beyond the carriage trade,” Pacelle said.