{"id":4604,"date":"2026-07-16T08:06:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T08:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4604"},"modified":"2026-07-16T08:06:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T08:06:04","slug":"the-rush-to-ban-central-park-horse-carriages-is-the-true-cruelty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4604","title":{"rendered":"The rush to ban Central Park horse carriages is the true cruelty"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Last month\u2019s awful accident that killed 18-year-old tourist Romanch Mahajan has brought a stampede to ban the city\u2019s horse-drawn carriages \u2014 context and even rational consideration be damned.<\/p>\n

Read more Why Howard Stern should quit now and retain a little dignity, rather than flogging his dead horse of a show any longer<\/a><\/p>\n

Mahajan\u2019s family testified at a City Council hearing Wednesday in favor of a ban; anyone listening would\u2019ve had a hard time holding back tears.<\/p>\n

But New York City sees other deadly accidents all the time \u2014 without prompting a rush to outright ban cars, construction work or e-bikes. <\/p>\n

And the testimony from those in the industry \u2014 the ones who\u2019d lose their livelihoods, not to mention, in all likelihood, their horses \u2014 was powerful, too.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s 200 or so drivers, mostly immigrants or immigrants\u2019 children, average all of about $65,000 a year from the trade; the overwhelming majority who work as independent contractors or owner-operators get no employer medical insurance or other perks.<\/p>\n

For many, as one driver noted (an appeal to Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other socialists?), this is an industry where \u201cthe workers own the means of production.\u201d<\/p>\n

What utter arrogance for council members to think they can write off the pain of destroying drivers\u2019 careers simply by \u201cretraining\u201d them for other work.<\/p>\n

As a spokesman for the their union noted, the bill\u2019s \u201cworker development\u201d provisions won\u2019t lead to jobs that come anywhere near the ones the drivers now have.<\/p>\n

Read more Savannah Bananas ripped over ESPYs performance as Dave Portnoy leads backlash: \u2018What the f\u2014 is this\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

As for the horses, the bill is a \u201cdeath sentence,\u201d one horse veterinarian testified: The idea that forcefully-retired equines will live out peaceful lives at pastoral sanctuaries is pure \u201cfantasy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the background, the years-long drive for a ban relies on myths hyped up repeatedly by animal-rights fanatics about how the horses are supposedly \u201cmistreated\u201d and the rides \u201cdangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

If fact, the horses are well cared for; they and their stables are subject to regular inspections.<\/p>\n

Mahajan\u2019s death was the first ever<\/em> in the industry\u2019s more than 160-year history.<\/em><\/p>\n

E-bike accidents, by contrast, have killed 133 people just since 2019 \u2014 and never mind cars and trains. <\/p>\n

Yet no one\u2019s talking about banning them<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

If the activists had real evidence of horse mistreatment, the city could step up inspections, require better training, better enforce the abundant rules already on the books and so on.<\/p>\n

\u200bThat\u2019s how we handle fatalities in every other trade.<\/p>\n

No matter how much the activists play on public emotion, banning an entire (if tiny) industry \u2014 a longtime city icon and tourist attraction \u2014 and putting its workers out to pasture isn\u2019t just overreaction, it\u2019s downright cruel.<\/p>\n

Read more Spain\u2019s Lamine Yamal\u2019s home targeted in attempted burglary hours after winning World Cup semifinal<\/a><\/p>\n

The council should (to paraphrase Nancy Reagan) just say neigh<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

E-bike accidents have killed 133 people just since 2019 \u2014 and never mind cars and trains. 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