{"id":301310,"date":"2026-07-21T00:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T00:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/301310\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T00:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T00:23:11","slug":"union-for-nycs-embattled-horse-carriages-rips-council-speaker-menin-as-traitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/301310\/","title":{"rendered":"Union for NYC’s embattled horse carriages rips Council Speaker Menin as traitor"},"content":{"rendered":"

The union for the Big Apple\u2019s horse-carriage drivers has unleashed a withering attack ad <\/a>calling City Council Speaker Julie Menin a traitor for supporting a bill that would ban the rides.<\/a><\/p>\n

Menin had not been pushing the bill till a young tourist died during a ride last month <\/a>\u2014 and her now-open support for it means it will likely pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for the betrayal, Julie,\u201d a narrator says in the searing ad paid for by the Transport Workers Union.<\/p>\n

The Transport Workers Union is running an attack ad on City Council Speaker Julie Menin over her support for a bill that would ban horse carriages in Central Park. Transport Workers Union of America<\/p>\n

Horse carriages seen in Central Park on June 26, 2026. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

The 30-second spot says Menin is destroying 200 horse-carriage-industry jobs while she frolics in her \u201c$22 million mansion in the Hamptons,\u201d referring to the posh summer home that the pol and her wealthy developer hubby Bruce Menin own.<\/p>\n

The ad shows people being poured glasses of champagne and attending polo matches \u2014 then pans to a glum-looking family \u201cworrying about how they put food on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

The six-figure ad is appearing during TV news programming and on digital streaming services, said TWU president John Samuelsen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not over until it\u2019s over,\u201d Samuelsen said of the fight to save the embattled horse-carriage industry \u2014 which has taken it on the chin over recent mishaps<\/a>, including one that left a young tourist dead.<\/p>\n

Romanch Mahajan\u2019s mother and father speak on a video call at the City Council meeting on the possible horse carriage ban on July 15, 2026. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n

The proposed local legislation to outlaw horse carriages has languished for years, despite a concerted push by animal-rights activists.<\/p>\n

But the push gained momentum, including from Menin, after a teen tourist was tragically killed last month <\/a>when he was thrown from a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park.<\/p>\n

The family of the 18-year-old victim, Romanch Mahajan, has said it supports banning the iconic rides <\/a>and the 160-year-old industry for good.<\/p>\n

Romanch\u2019s uncle and aunt representing the family at the council meeting. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Samuelsen accused Menin of exploiting Mahajan\u2019s death to advance her political career. He also said the most recent proposed legislation lacks ironclad job protection for carriage drivers if their horse rides go south.<\/p>\n

Menin stood her ground and slammed the TWU for leveling \u201cfalse personal attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been clear that any transition away from horse-drawn carriages must come with a plan to protect affected workers with sustainable, comparable jobs,\u201d Menin said.<\/p>\n

Horse carriage drivers sitting in on the City Council meeting. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cFalse personal attacks are simply unproductive. Instead, the council remains committed to working with the affected workers to develop a workforce protection plan that\u2019s informed by their input.\u201d<\/p>\n

A major animal-rights group, New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS, slammed the TWU for its role in preserving the horse-carriage industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cTWU Local 100 falsely claims these are `union\u201d jobs,\u2019 but carriage drivers receive no protections, benefits or bargaining rights,\u201d NYCLASS said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> said on the campaign trail and since taking office in January that he supports a ban on the carriage rides, which have been around since Central Park opened in 1858.<\/p>\n

He said last month that he would work to \u201cdeliver a just transition that protects workers while ending horse-drawn carriages in Central Park once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The union for the Big Apple\u2019s horse-carriage drivers has unleashed a withering attack ad calling City Council Speaker…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[301,68,8395,19077,57,9,56,63,65,64,8397,58,82],"class_list":["post-301310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-city-council","tag-exclusive","tag-horse-carriages","tag-julie-menin","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-transport-workers-union","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301310","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=301310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}