Mayor Eric Adams has thrown his support behind a long-debated proposal to ban horse-drawn carriages in New York City, calling on the City Council to pass Ryder’s Law and announcing a new executive order to tighten oversight of the controversial industry.
Mayor Eric Adams has thrown his support behind a long-debated proposal to ban horse-drawn carriages in New York City. Photo Collage: Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office and Catie Savage
The announcement marks a significant shift in the yearslong battle over the future of the carriage trade — and comes just weeks after Lady, a 15-year-old carriage horse, collapsed and died on 11th Avenue while returning to her Hell’s Kitchen stable. The incident echoed the highly publicized 2022 collapse of Ryder on W45th Street and 9th Avenue, whose death sparked both outrage and a failed criminal case against his driver, Ian McKeever.
In a press release this afternoon (Wednesday), Adams urged the Council to “end the horse carriage industry in New York City and help keep all New Yorkers — including our animals — safe.” He signed Executive Order 56, which directs city agencies to step up enforcement of carriage regulations, create a process for voluntary license returns, and prepare workforce retraining for drivers and stable staff.
The order also opens the door for electric carriages to eventually replace horse-drawn rides through Central Park, a compromise long floated by advocates. Adams accompanied the order with a letter of necessity — a procedural step that would allow the Council to fast-track Ryder’s Law if they choose to act.
A horse-drawn carriage takes passengers around Central Park. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Horse-drawn carriages have been a fixture of Central Park since its opening in the 1850s, but in recent years the industry has come under increasing scrutiny from advocates, elected officials, and even the Central Park Conservancy, which broke its neutrality this summer to call for a ban.
The Conservancy cited a string of dangerous incidents in the park — including runaway horses that injured drivers and spooked passengers — along with damage to newly repaved park drives and repeated violations of sanitation rules. “It is time to turn the page,” Conservancy president Betsy Smith wrote in a letter to Adams and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.
Councilmember Erik Bottcher, who represents Hell’s Kitchen, is a co-sponsor of Ryder’s Law and has said momentum is building. “A growing coalition of New Yorkers — including so many in the Hell’s Kitchen community — are recognizing that it’s time,” he told W42ST earlier this month.
Erik Bottcher speaks at a NYCLASS rally for Ryder’s Law last month with Edita Birnkrant. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Animal rights group NYCLASS applauded Adams’ announcement. “NYCLASS applauds Mayor Eric Adams for today’s powerful announcement calling for a ban on horse carriages and for issuing executive orders to crack down on the industry’s dangerous and unlawful practices that endanger both the public and the horses,” said Executive Director Edita Birnkrant. “This is a life-saving step for both people and horses, and it makes clear what we and so many New Yorkers have long said: horse-drawn carriages have no place in our city any longer.”
Birnkrant added that “runaway horses, terrifying crashes, human injuries and near fatalities, along with repeated collapses and deaths of horses on our streets prove this cruel, outdated industry cannot continue.”
NYCLASS noted that public opinion and institutional backing are increasingly aligned against the carriages — with polls showing 71 percent of New Yorkers in favor of a ban and the Central Park Conservancy now urging Council action. The group said Adams’ announcement should spur Speaker Adrienne Adams to schedule a hearing and move Ryder’s Law forward this year.
Industry representatives, backed by the Transport Workers Union Local 100, have long countered that the horses are well cared for and that eliminating the trade would erase good-paying jobs for roughly 200 workers, many of them immigrants.
Despite Adams’ forceful call, the future of the industry rests with the City Council, where Ryder’s Law has stalled for over a year without a hearing. Speaker Adrienne Adams has not yet signaled whether the bill will move forward, though the mayor’s involvement could raise the pressure.
W42ST has reached out to the horse-drawn carriage industry for comment and will update this story as responses come in.