NEW YORK — There were terrifying moments inside New York’s Central Park, when a spooked carriage horse takes off running with no one at the reigns. Now, there are renewed calls to chancel the carriages while others defend the long-standing tradition.<\/p>\n
It is the third time a carriage horse has taken off running in Central Park this year.<\/p>\n
Bambi, the carriage horse, was resting in her stall in Hell’s Kitchen on Monday night, appearing unhurt but awaiting a full evaluation from a vet.<\/p>\n
She’ll be taking a few days off after taking off running.<\/p>\n
Police are investigating what led to young Bambi getting spooked around 11:15 a.m. Monday near Bethesda Fountain, an area packed with people.<\/p>\n
“The crowd around was screaming because people didn’t know which direction the horse was going to go into,” said Danielle Chin.<\/p>\n
Chin, of the Upper West Side, took images of the aftermath, after seeing the carriage driver sprinting behind the runaway horse and empty carriage.<\/p>\n
Three passengers had gotten themselves out.<\/p>\n
“There was a moment where the horse was stuck on the stop sign and they were close enough to ground,” Chin added.<\/p>\n
She says if carriage horses were to be banned, she wouldn’t miss them, and is grateful that sign wasn’t a person.<\/p>\n
“There were so many tourists and people around and children around, so it was really terrifying,” Chin said.<\/p>\n
At the stables, the drivers’ shop steward says they’re grateful no one was badly hurt and that the horse is relatively new to the job, but the driver is a veteran of 20 plus years.<\/p>\n
“He’s not injured. But he is shaken up,” said carriage driver and TWU Local 100 Shop Steward Christina Hansen.<\/p>\n
She says he blames an unusually loud garbage truck too close to the carriage, saying the truck driver seemed aggressive and should have known better.<\/p>\n
“So whether or not this was a road rage incident or a spooking or there’s something wrong with the garbage truck motor, the driver says it was very, very loud. We just don’t know yet. What we do know, the horse is okay,” Hansen adds.<\/p>\n
“This is a business that should have been shut down many, many years ago,” said Edita Birnkrant of NYClass.<\/p>\n
Tonight NYClass, which has long lobbied to ban the carriages says this latest close call should spur the city council to pass Ryders Law, which would phase them out over about two years.<\/p>\n
A council spokesperson says the bill is still going through a deliberative process.<\/p>\n
However, NYClass isn’t so sure.<\/p>\n
“Speaker Adrienne Adams must stop blocking this bill and let it move forward before someone is killed,” Birnkrant added.<\/p>\n