{"id":274599,"date":"2026-06-22T23:14:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/274599\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T23:14:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:14:29","slug":"romanch-mahajans-family-demands-nyc-ban-horse-carriages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/274599\/","title":{"rendered":"Romanch Mahajan’s family demands NYC ban horse carriages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stricken kin of the teen tourist fatally tossed<\/a> from a Central Park horse carriage demanded Monday that the city ban the industry \u2014 saying anything less suggests his death was just \u201ca temporary inconvenience.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Tragic Romanch Mahajan\u2019s grieving family said in an emotional letter read at a vigil for him in the park that the city needs to take \u201cimmediate decisive action \u2026 to permanently phase out horse-drawn carriages before another life is lost.<\/p>\n

Romanch Mahajan, 18, sits next to his mother and across from his father and little brother in the fated Central Park horse carriage just before last week\u2019s tragedy. Obtained by NY Post<\/p>\n

Romanch was fatally tossed from the carriage when the horse bolted. Jordan Donegan<\/p>\n

\u201cThe industry responsible for my nephew\u2019s death is preparing to resume passenger tours this Tuesday, treating the loss of Romanch\u2019s life as a temporary inconvenience,\u201d said Gaurav Mahajan, Romanch\u2019s uncle, in the letter to the mayor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Such a move is a \u201cprofound insult to our family and a direct threat to the public safety of every tourist and resident in New York City,\u201d Gaurav said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllowing these carriages back onto the streets while our family is planning a funeral proves that the city values an antiquated novelty over human life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The teen had just graduated from high school in India and was looking forward to a college career.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe demand that you use the full power of your office to halt the resumption of these rides immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

A temporary moratorium on the rides was voluntarily instituted by the drivers\u2019 union after Romanch, 18, died during a carriage ride with his parents and little brother Wednesday while in town from India to celebrate his high-school graduation.<\/p>\n

The carriage driver alleged flouted safety protocols and got out to take photos of the family when the horse bolted. <\/p>\n

The embattled local industry\u2019s temporary halt on the rides is set to be lifted Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have safety teams in the park tomorrow when drivers return to service to provide oversight and retraining,\u201d said TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President Alexander Kemp, who represents more than 300 horse carriage drivers and owners, in a statement.<\/p>\n

City Councilman Chris Marte speaks at Monday\u2019s vigil for Romanch. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWe renew our call for the Health Department, or its designee, to start regular spot checks of rule compliance in the park while we continue to consult with experts and pursue additional safety enhancements, such as tougher tests for driver applicants and new training programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s vigil was held in honor of Romanch and also to announce that Ryder\u2019s Law, a bill before City Council that would phase out the horse carriages, was being changed to Romanch\u2019s Law by its latest sponsor, Councilman Chris Marte.<\/p>\n

An anti-horse-carriage activist attends Monday\u2019s vigil. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Under the bill, it would take two years to phase out the carriages to fully transition their drivers to new jobs, Marte said at the vigil, which was attended by about a dozen people consisting of his staff and animal advocates.<\/p>\n

But Marte said he is focused on ending the practice as soon as possible and is \u201chappy to discuss\u201d additional safety measures in the meantime.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I want is to end this practice immediately,\u201d the pol said at the vigil. \u201cWe don\u2019t think that it should take another two years where we can allow the risk to be living in our park and in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Activists noted City Hall could halt the industry by filing an emergency injunction against the drivers.<\/p>\n

But a City Hall rep Monday argued that the industry is authorized by local law and must also be undone by the same process.<\/p>\n

Flowers are laid for Romanch during the vigil. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n

An executive order can\u2019t be issued to terminate the industry, as those can only be issued when there is a \u201cdisaster\u201d defined in part by widespread damage or loss of life, the representative said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe extend our deepest condolences to the Mahajan family, and are deeply troubled by the heartbreaking tragedy they experienced,\u201d Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec told The Post. \u201cThe mayor has been clear about his position: It is time to end the horse carriage industry in our parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to working with City Council, union partners, carriage drivers, animal welfare advocates, and community leaders to deliver a just transition that protects workers while ending horse-drawn carriages in Central Park once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed legislation to ban the carriages was first pitched in 2022 by former city Councilman Bob Holden weeks before tragic horse Ryder collapsed and later died. It has yet to see a vote.<\/p>\n

In November, the City Council\u2019s health panel\u00a0refused to advance it out of committee<\/a>\u00a0despite support from the Central Park Conservancy and then-Mayor Eric Adams.<\/p>\n

Animal activist Edita Birnkrant (center) helps honor the killed teen tourist. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n

But Marte said support from City Council Speaker Julie Menin after Romanch\u2019s death marked a turning point, with a hearing on the bill now set for July 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, what we\u2019ve seen is every administration from the de Blasio administration make promises that were never kept,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut now we have an opportunity to really pass this legislation and permanently end this practice here in Central Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former city councilman Sen. Erik Bottcher said at the vigil that Romanch\u2019s \u201cdeath was not unpredictable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, his death was predicted. It was said many times that someone was gonna be killed,\u201d Bottcher said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am haunted by the photograph of Romanch\u2019s mother cradling her son on the pavement with his little brother standing over her shoulder,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShame on us if we let this happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stricken kin of the teen tourist fatally tossed from a Central Park horse carriage demanded Monday that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4709,8395,11634,75,57,9,197,56,63,65,64,58],"class_list":["post-274599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-central-park","tag-horse-carriages","tag-horses","tag-manhattan","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city-life","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}