One Death, Century-Old Trade on Trial

A teenager died trying to save his mother from a runaway Central Park carriage horse — and now New York City politicians are using the tragedy to wipe out a 150-year-old industry overnight.

Story Snapshot

Romanch Mahajan, 18, died in June 2026 after jumping from a runaway carriage horse in Central Park to help his mother — the first such fatality in over 150 years.
New York City’s mayor and City Council leaders quickly vowed to end the horse carriage industry entirely, pushing a bill called Ryder’s Law to a council hearing.
The carriage industry and its union say the crash points to a driver rule violation — not a broken industry — and are backing new safety measures like hitching posts instead of a full ban.
About 250 carriage drivers stand to lose their jobs if the ban passes, raising real questions about whether a single tragedy justifies eliminating an entire trade.

A Graduation Trip Ends in Tragedy

Romanch Mahajan traveled to New York City from India with his family to celebrate finishing high school. On June 17, 2026, the family boarded a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park. The horse bolted away from its driver. Romanch’s mother fell out of the carriage. He jumped out to help her and hit his head on the ground. He later died from that injury, according to his father, Deepak Mahajan.^[3] The Central Park Conservancy called it the first carriage-related death in the park’s history.

The crash was not an isolated bad day for the industry. The Central Park Conservancy reported eight horse-related incidents in the park over the previous 13 months.^[8] Just days before Romanch’s death, a 16-year-old carriage horse collapsed and died in Central Park, triggering a police investigation and a necropsy to find the cause.^[4] The string of incidents gave ban supporters fresh momentum heading into the summer.

Politicians Move Fast to End the Industry

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wasted no time. He told NBC News it was “time to end the horse carriage industry” in the park and pledged to work with the City Council to make it happen.^[1] City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced a hearing next month on Ryder’s Law — a bill that would ban horse carriages and help drivers move into new jobs. Mamdani had campaigned on ending the industry before taking office, so his response came as no surprise.

The speed of the political response raises a fair question: are city leaders solving a safety problem, or seizing on grief to push a policy they already wanted? Former Mayor Bill de Blasio made the same promise — to shut the industry down “on Day One” — and failed after years of council resistance.^[8] This time, with the conservancy, the mayor, and council leadership all aligned, the political math looks different. Still, the industry has survived many previous attempts to kill it.

Industry Says Fix the Rules, Don’t Kill the Jobs

Carriage industry leaders and the Transport Workers Union argue that a total ban goes too far. The union said the driver in the June crash was taking a photo and stepped away from the horse — a violation of the rules requiring drivers to stay with their carriage.^[4] That points to a correctable human error, not a reason to eliminate the whole trade. The union backed new legislation that would install hitching posts throughout the park so drivers can safely secure horses at busy photo spots.^[9]

What began as a family outing in New York City's iconic Central Park ended in unimaginable tragedy. Eighteen-year-old Indian tourist Romanch Mahajan lost his life after heroically trying to save his mother when a horse-drawn carriage suddenly bolted out of control.

According to… pic.twitter.com/VuoT92JhMB

— Mojo Story (@themojostory) June 19, 2026

The industry also provides real jobs — roughly 250 carriage drivers work in Central Park — and gives retired farm and racing horses a working home.^[3] Other cities like Chicago, San Antonio, and Philadelphia have already banned the rides, and ban advocates point to that trend as proof New York is overdue.^[9] But a trend is not the same as proof of necessity. Stricter enforcement of existing rules, required hitching posts, and better driver training could address the specific failure that killed Romanch without wiping out an entire livelihood. A single tragic death, caused in part by a driver breaking the rules, deserves a serious response — not a rushed political ban that punishes hundreds of workers for one person’s mistake.