On June 17th, a family vacation became a devastating day for a family and a day that marked potential for change in the New York horse carriage industry. Eighteen-year-old Romanch Mahajan, who was visiting New York from India, passed away following a tragic carriage horse incident. The incident brought the debate about whether horse-drawn carriages should be permitted in New York City back to the forefront of conversation.
During the family’s carriage ride, they asked the driver to take a photo. The driver stepped out and took a photo; drivers are not permitted to do that. Shortly, the horse bolted through the park, driverless. The mother fell, and Mahajan jumped out to help her. Unfortunately, he faced injuries. He died later that day.
This was the first passenger death in New York City’s horse carriage industry’s history, which is 150 years old. It also followed another incident where a carriage horse, Deniz, died while working. Both of these incidents put the industry under major public scrutiny.
Following the accident, carriage rides were temporarily suspended. Various public officials called for a permanent ban and argued that the park created risks for the horses and pedestrians. However, carriage operators argued that the incident was a rare tragedy and not evidence that the industry is entirely unsafe. I often walk through the park on my way home from my internship, and I have already seen countless tourists taking carriage rides again. It almost seems like the digital scrutiny had very little net impact on the industry.
