Horse-drawn carriages will soon be no more in New York City, after an overwhelming City Council vote on Oct. 22.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers voted 40-7 in favor of Romanch\u2019s Law, a measure that looks to phase out the industry by June 2028. It requires the city to establish a career transition program for industry workers, and help drivers find \u201chumane disposition opportunities\u201d for horses, per a Council press release.<\/p>\n
The bill, introduced by Councilmember Christopher Marte (D-Manhattan), was named for Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old tourist who was killed in a carriage accident in June. Mayor Mamdani has said he would sign it.<\/p>\n
Its passage marks the culmination of a yearslong fight \u2014 the Council first introduced a ban in 2007, and lawmakers in later years, including former Queens Councilmember Bob Holden, have led efforts to get one passed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 19 years of relentless advocacy, the passage of Romanch\u2019s Law marks a historic victory for horses, workers, and everyone who deserves safe streets,\u201d said Edita Birnkrant, the executive director of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, who hails from Fresh Meadows.<\/p>\n
To NYCLASS and other advocates, the passage is a hard-fought win. Many have long decried the carriage rides as cruel to animals, a claim denied by industry workers. Proponents also say the cab rides have become more dangerous as streets have gotten busier.<\/p>\n
\u201cHorse-drawn carriages have been part of New York City\u2019s history since before cars, but our city has changed drastically,\u201d Councilmember and Health Committee Chair Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills) said. \u201cOur streets and parks have become increasingly overcrowded and chaotic. This creates a massive safety risk for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council Speaker Julie Menin (D-Manhattan) said the vote was a demonstration of lawmakers\u2019 commitment to animal welfare, public safety and worker protection, saying the status quo has become \u201cunsustainable and unsafe for horses and people alike.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe resulting plan establishes a deadline to phase out the industry while ensuring the development of a comprehensive workforce transition that will protect the livelihoods of the hardworking New Yorkers who depend on it,\u201d Menin said in a statement.<\/p>\n
For carriage drivers, however, the ban is a devastating loss. The Transport Workers Union, which represents them, on Oct. 21 vowed to file a federal lawsuit if the law is enacted. The union\u2019s attorneys wrote a letter to NYC Corporation Counsel Steve Banks saying they would seek a temporary restraining order \u201cthe minute the ink dries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis bill is a train wreck of constitutional and due process violations,\u201d TWU International President John Samuelsen said in a news release, adding that it offers \u201cnothing concrete\u201d for workers who will be \u201cfinancially crushed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The release continues in part that the bill as written takes property without compensation, including costly city-issued medallions, and does not guarantee employment.<\/p>\n
TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President Alexander Kemp called the law \u201cblatantly unconstitutional,\u201d saying it provides \u201cnothing but a plan to draft a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Union leaders also have noted that more people are killed in e-bike and scooter crashes than carriage accidents.<\/p>\n
Romanch\u2019s Law requires the Mamdani administration to establish a transition plan by April 1 that includes career assistance for industry workers.<\/p>\n
Menin also is set to form a joint working group to ease the transition, and the administration and union have been invited to have one representative join each.<\/p>\n
Per a Council press release, the administration will \u201cconsider\u201d compensating drivers, including for the value of their businesses, licenses and equipment. The city also is to help drivers find \u201chumane disposition opportunities\u201d for horses, and they may not be sold for slaughter or another cab business. Owners could opt to keep their horses.<\/p>\n
Among the bill\u2019s dissenters were Queens Councilmembers Joann Ariola (R-Howard Beach), Jim Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) and Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone). Gennaro had introduced a measure calling for more industry regulations, including more driver training and hitching posts in Central Park.<\/p>\n
Gennaro at last week\u2019s meeting said in part that no driver in the 168-year-old industry has ever been convicted of animal cruelty.<\/p>\n
In a lengthy statement on Facebook, he said the latest version of the bill \u201csidesteps\u201d and delegates to the mayor key issues, such as the fate of retiring horses.<\/p>\n
He also cited a lack of jobs in the hospitality industry, which some have suggested for drivers, and lingering questions about the disposition of medallions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have read this far, you hopefully have a grasp of the unfairness of Intro. No. 943-A, the callous disregard of horses\u2019 lives, inhumane treatment of immigrant workers, the risk to the financial futures of medallion owners and their families,\u201d Gennaro\u2019s statement reads.<\/p>\n
Ariola and Paladino both were co-sponsors on Holden\u2019s ban bill, but voted against the latest measure. Both said the measure that passed lacks solid protections for impacted business owners.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really felt that we would come to a place where everybody had received something \u2014 the horses, the owners and the people who work there,\u201d Ariola said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t happen, and that\u2019s why I just couldn\u2019t be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Ariola\u2019s view, the tragedy of Mahajan\u2019s death thrust the bill into the public eye and propelled it to a vote prematurely.<\/p>\n
She told the Chronicle she supported an amendment to Romanch\u2019s Law that would have extended its timeline to 2030, but it was shot down. Ariola also would like to have seen horse carriages replaced by electric ones operated by medallion owners.<\/p>\n
Holden\u2019s bill originally included an electric carriage mandate, but that was dropped in a later version.<\/p>\n
Paladino said she co-sponsored Holden\u2019s legislation with the understanding that if it moved forward, more concrete plans for workers would be developed. Romanch\u2019s Law did not address her concerns \u201cexcept in the vaguest of terms,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are generational businesses that are going to be lost forever, and the sad thing is we could\u2019ve implemented a real solution that worked for everyone,\u201d Paladino said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Horse-drawn carriages will soon be no more in New York City, after an overwhelming City Council vote on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[17671,4709,19077,9,24,63,137177,134,136,135,8824],"class_list":["post-386738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-carriage-horses","tag-central-park","tag-julie-menin","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-romanchs-law","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news","tag-twu-local-100"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386738","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=386738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}