An 18-year-old tourist died after a horse-drawn carriage accident in Central Park, renewing calls to ban the popular New York City attraction.
In a tragic accident last week, an 18-year-old lost his life after a horse bolted during a horse-drawn carriage ride in New York City. Romanch Mahajan was visiting the U.S. with his mother, father, and younger brother when the incident occurred. The accident has renewed calls to ban horse-drawn carriage rides in the city, a popular tourist attraction.
The Mahajan family came to the U.S. to celebrate Romanch’s high school graduation and admission to college. They visited the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, and the 9/11 Memorial, and were enjoying a horse-drawn carriage ride in Central Park on Wednesday, the third day of their trip. Near the end of the ride, the driver got down to take a picture of the family, and that’s when the horse became spooked and bolted. Romanch’s mother, Priya, fell out, and Romanch jumped to help her. But he hit his head on the pavement and died in the hospital that night.
The carriage toppled over after hitting another carriage, and his father, Deepak, brother Maanik, and mother Priya suffered minor injuries.
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The Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents carriage drivers, said that the driver was at least “an arm’s length away from the horse.” Vice President Alexander Kemp said, “This is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos — ever. We support a full investigation.”
The incident comes at a time when the industry is facing increased scrutiny after a series of mishaps. Earlier this month, a horse ate a plant poisonous to horses and died in the park. Last month, a horse collided with another carriage, and in January, a spooked horse ran into traffic and struck cars.
Horse-drawn carriage rides were briefly suspended following the death and resumed on Tuesday. The owner of the carriage suspended the driver, and the horse was retired.
Deepak Mahajan, the teenager’s father, said that the incident should be taken seriously. “It took my son’s dream away,” the New York Times reported.
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For years, animal rights groups have advocated for the activity to be suspended. They argue that keeping horses on busy city streets amounts to animal abuse because they can be startled by people and cars, potentially causing harm to both animals and humans. They also contend that city traffic is stressful for the animals and forces them to work in inhumane conditions.
Romanch was the first person to die in such an accident since the carriages were introduced 150 years ago. The Central Park Conservancy, which manages the park, has also called for a ban on the industry, citing eight horse-related incidents in the park since May 2025. Horses cannot safely share space with pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists, it says. The conservancy called Romanch’s death an “unacceptable cost of an antiquated industry operating in the middle of one of the most heavily used public spaces in America.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also stated that the council would work with animal welfare advocates and the industry to “deliver a just transition that protects workers while ending horse-drawn carriages in Central Park once and for all.”
A proposal called Ryder’s Law to ban horse-drawn carriages was already under review before the fatal incident. Council member Christopher Marte said that the legislation will be renamed Romanch’s Law in memory of the teenager. Marte said when the bill was introduced, “It takes one second of a horse losing its concentration to run off and injure a driver, a passenger, or just a pedestrian. We have to end it, not only for the horses, because they’re in extreme conditions, but also for the people around them.”
The council will take up the bill in July.
Meanwhile, separate legislation introduced to the council proposes, among other things, improved working conditions and the installation of hitching posts. The carriage industry supports the measure and has been calling for hitching posts so drivers can safely secure horses and prevent them from bolting unexpectedly. The labor union argues that horse-drawn carriage rides are a beloved New York tradition and that eliminating them entirely would lead to job losses and hurt small business owners.