Standing at the West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue Central Park entrance on Friday, horse carriage drivers called on the mayor and the City Council to reconsider legislation that would phase out their industry by the spring of 2028.
Earlier this week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin agreed to a deal to ban horse carriages in the cityscheduling a full council vote on the bill for Oct. 22. It is likely to pass.
The legislation, known as Romanch’s Law — named for an 18-year-old tourist who died after being thrown from a horse carriage in Central Park in June — was tweaked to address the impact on industry workers and medallion owners.
It now includes a requirement to develop a full plan for job transitions for those working in the industry by April of next year.
But the union representing drivers says the legislation is weak, with nothing guaranteed, and only considers financial compensation.
“I invested my life savings and dedicated years of hard work to building a business legally,” driver and medallion owner Atakan Aktay said. “So we are not against change. We are against being left behind.”
“This is not a plan. It’s a concept of a plan, that sometime in the spring, the mayor will assign some agency to look at some consideration to publish on a city website, of what he’s going to do with absolutely no funding, no legislative mandate or anything,” driver Christina Hansen added.
The Transport Workers Union says it submitted three proposals to the speaker’s office that include a plan to reform the existing industry, switch to electric carriages, and offer a fair and complete buyout, but never heard back.
Some of the carriage drivers say they feel similarly to how taxi driver medallion owners felt when many took on excessive debt caused by inflated taxi medallion prices. During that crisis, nine taxi drivers took their own lives.
Famously, prior to his election as mayor, Mamdani joined a 15-day hunger strike outside City Hall in solidarity with New York taxi workers.
“How can you fight for one group of medallion owners while allowing another group to face financial devastation?” Aktay said Friday.
“You have no intention to protect our workers, our horses, our businesses, our families,” another driver added.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Menin said the speaker was “clear that the transition away from horse carriages in Central Park must include meaningful protections for the workers.”
“Through thoughtful conversations with labor and other stakeholders, the Council developed a framework to ensure better economic opportunities for these New Yorkers,” the spokesperson said. “As the Administration implements the plan, Speaker Menin’s office will remain engaged in the transition process, including through a new joint working group that she has invited TWU and the Administration to join.”
NY1 has also reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.
Source: ny1.com
