Horse-Drawn Carriages Collided in Central Park, Injuring 1 Driver and Reigniting Debate on the New York City Attraction

Horse-Drawn Carriages Collided in Central Park, Injuring 1 Driver and Reigniting Debate on the New York City Attraction https://ift.tt/HUAdSie

Both horses were unharmed, however animal rights activists say the crash speaks to a larger issue regarding the welfare of the working horses

Overturned horse carriage on a street with emergency responders and emergency vehicles nearby
Credit: CBS New York/Youtube

NEED TO KNOW

• Two horse-drawn carriages collided near Central Park, injuring a driver but leaving both horses unharmed
• Animal rights advocates renewed calls to ban horse-drawn carriages in New York City after the incident
• The union representing drivers proposed relocating horse stables to Central Park to reduce exposure to city traffic

A carriage horse driver was injured after two horse-drawn carriages collided and overturned near New York City's Central Park.

According to CBS News, the crash happened on Monday, May 18, around 4:40 p.m. local time near a park entrance at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 59th Street. The incident involved two horses named Troy and Otis. Per reports, Otis's carriage flipped over after Troy's carriage collided with it.

Christina Hansen, whose union represents carriage horse drivers, told the outlet that Troy had just dropped off riders and was attempting to pull away from a line of parked carriages when the collision occurred.

The carriage driver, whose name has not been released, was on board when the carriage tipped over and was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. Both horses were unharmed, and no passengers were injured.

After the incident, animal rights advocates renewed calls to end horse-drawn carriage rides in New York City, saying such accidents are not uncommon and have led to serious injuries, long-term health risks, and even death for horses in previous years.

Advocacy group New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS) is urging the New York City Council to revive Ryder's Law, a proposed bill aimed at banning horse-drawn carriages in the city.

The bill, which was shot down by the City Council Committee on Health in November, was named after Ryder, an elderly carriage horse that collapsed in Manhattan in 2022 due to an undiagnosed neurological disease and was later euthanized.

"Today there was both a heat advisory and an air quality alert in effect, yet these horses were still being forced to work in dangerous conditions,” Edita Birnkrant with NYCLASS said in a statement. "These incidents keep happening because horses are prey animals who do not belong in chaotic city traffic."

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Hansen pushed back against the critics of the attraction, telling CBS News that the activists "only care about advancing their agenda, which is to get rid of the carriage horses."

"They don't think that horses and humans belong together. So to them this is just something that advances a legislative agenda," she added.

The union has previously proposed relocating horse stables (currently in the Hell's Kitchen area) to Central Park itself to reduce the animals' exposure to city traffic; however, no decision has been made on the move.