Union suspends Central Park carriage horse rides for several days to conduct “refresher training” in wake of teen's death

Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News on Jun 19, 2026

Published in News & Features

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — Carriage horse rides in Central Park will be suspended until at least Tuesday following the death of an 18-year-old passenger earlier this week, the union representing carriage drivers announced Friday.

During that time, the roughly 200 carriage horse owners and drivers will undergo “refresher training” on safety rules and protocols, a representative of the Transport Workers Union, which represents city carriage horse drivers, said.

Romanch Mahajan died Wednesday after he hit his head while falling from an out-of-control horse carriage in the park.

“Our hearts go out to the family of Romanch Mahajan. Words can’t express the enormity of this tragedy,” Alexander Kemp, a vice president with TWU Local 100, said in a statement. “We are taking the first steps towards addressing safety issues.”

Mahajan and his family were visiting New York from India and were in the carriage while its driver stepped out to take their picture. While the driver was out of the carriage, the horse bolted.

Mahajan was ejected from the vehicle near Cherry Hill. The three other members of his family who were aboard managed to escape injury, despite the carriage colliding with another and overturning on a park drive.

In the days since, the TWU has voluntarily ended all carriage horse rides in the park — a move union officials characterized as a “safety stand-down” that would continue over the long weekend.

The NYPD is also investigating the crash.

No horses will pull carriages Friday, Saturday or Sunday, a TWU spokesman said, while drivers undergo a refresher on safety protocols and “how to secure and maintain control of carriage horse at all times.”

In the hours after Mahajan was killed Wednesday, the union said its driver had been “at least at arm’s length from his horse to take a photo of his passengers in the carriage,” a situation the union called “unacceptable.”

Union officials said the owner of the carriage in question has suspended the driver.

Following the weekend refresher, horse drivers will train with carriages in the park on Monday — but without any passengers, the TWU spokesman said.

Sightseeing rides could resume on Tuesday.

The death of the young tourist on Wednesday came amid a heated revival of a long-running debate over the future of the carriage horse industry.

Last week a horse named Deniz died in the park after eating a poisonous plant, a death that came amid a renewed push to ban the issuance of new carriage-horse medallions and wind down the industry.

That legislation, known as “Ryder’s Law,” is making its way through the City Council as the TWU has put it’s political weight behind a competing effort that would further regulate driver training and equine health practices.

In its statement Wednesday, the union called upon the Department of Health to increase its enforcement of carriage horse safety.