Horse-drawn carriage drivers appealed to Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday to protect their livelihoods, urging him to stand with working-class New Yorkers rather than eliminate their jobs.
During a City Hall hearing, Mamdani faced sharp criticism from members of the Transit Workers Union, who said they felt abandoned after the City Council approved a measure ending the carriage industry.
“I believed you stood with working-class people, our union and our immigrant colleagues who invested their life savings in carriage medallions while pursuing the American dream,” one frustrated driver told the mayor during more than an hour of testimony.
“Why have you chosen to side with billionaires and real estate developers?” the hansom cab driver asked, challenging the democratic socialist mayor.
The City Council approved the legislation last month with a veto-proof majority. Known as “Romanch’s Law,” it was named for 18-year-old tourist Romanch Mahajan, who was thrown to his death from a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park in July.
The measure would end the roughly 150-year-old tradition by the summer of 2028. However, it does not provide direct financial compensation for the approximately 200 carriage drivers, instead offering only broad assurances of job training for “new economic opportunities.”
“Tonight, I’m going to have to tell my daughter that in May she will need to leave university after three years,” another driver said during the hearing. Animal-rights advocates and other supporters of the ban also addressed the panel.
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Mamdani, who has made support for working-class residents a central part of his political platform, has nevertheless backed the ban and indicated that he plans to sign it before the late-November deadline.
Still, the mayor has provided few specifics about how the city would safeguard the drivers’ financial futures. Some have spent more than $400,000 on medallions, which allow them to operate carriages in a system similar to New York City’s yellow-cab industry.
“I had the opportunity to visit a horse stable and meet several frightened and struggling drivers, including some who testified today,” Mamdani said at Wednesday’s hearing.
“I want to make clear that I respect them and the work they do. These drivers should not be demonized,” the mayor said.
He added that the city was committed to listening to the drivers’ concerns and developing “a fair, just and meaningful transition” for them as they leave the industry, though he did not outline a specific plan.
Transit Workers Union Local 100, which represents the carriage drivers, has vowed to take the fight to court as soon as the law is formally signed.
The ban is scheduled to take effect June 1, 2028, ending horse-drawn carriage operations across New York City after years of campaigning by animal-rights advocates. Supporters of the measure have pointed to several high-profile cases involving horses collapsing while working in intense summer heat.
