A horse-drawn carriage in Central Park toppled onto its side on Monday, leaving its driver with minor injuries, after a horse attached to a carriage behind it was startled, the Police Department said.
The incident was the latest involving New York City’s horse-drawn carriages, which have become the subject of a long-running political debate over animal welfare, public safety and jobs.
It happened when the two carriages were parked, one behind the other, inside the park near its southwest corner at West 59th Street in Manhattan shortly before 4 p.m., the Police Department said.
Troy, the horse attached to the second carriage, was startled by what police described as an abrupt movement and reared, knocking the first carriage onto its side. It was unclear what movement caused the horse to react, the department said.
The first carriage’s coachman fell onto the ground and was treated for minor injuries, according to the department. Neither horse was hurt, and no passengers were on either carriage at the time of the incident.
Animal-rights advocates have pointed to a series of accidents in arguing that the city should ban its horse-drawn carriages, a longtime Central Park fixture.
The Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that operates the park, has supported a City Council bill introduced in 2024 that would ban the carriages. The measure was named Ryder’s Law after a horse collapsed in Midtown Manhattan in 2022.
The conservancy did not respond on Monday night to a request for comment.
In August, Betsy Smith, the conservancy’s president, asked city officials to ban the carriages, saying they had become a public health and safety issue as the park’s visitor numbers reached record levels. Days earlier, a horse named Lady had collapsed and died at a Manhattan intersection.
In January, a horse named Destiny ran through Manhattan traffic with its empty carriage and no driver, crashing into cars before a bystander grabbed its reins.
The Transport Workers Union International, which represents the city’s more than 200 carriage drivers, has opposed the ban, saying it would threaten their livelihoods. A spokeswoman for the union did not respond on Monday night to a request for comment.
In a December news briefing before he was sworn in as mayor, Zohran Mamdani said that he supported removing horse carriages from Central Park and that he would work with the transport union on the issue.
Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.
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