Carriage horse runs into traffic, hits multiple vehicles

A carriage horse in New York City crashed into multiple vehicles after bolting out of Central Park. Video shows the horse trotting through the street and hitting a taxi. (WCBS via CNN Newsource)

NEW YORK (WCBS) -- A carriage horse in New York City crashed into multiple vehicles after bolting out of Central Park. Video shows the horse trotting through the street and hitting a taxi.

The incident happened when the horse ran into oncoming traffic on Thursday morning through the four-way intersection of Sixth Avenue and West 59th Street.

Officials from the non-profit animal rights organization NYCLASS, short for New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, said people had to jump and run out of the way to avoid being trampled.

Police said four to five unoccupied, unattended cars were hit. No one was injured.

The condition of the horse is unknown, NYCLASS said.

A horse crashed into a sign in Central Park in September. A video showed a person falling out of the carriage and another person jumping out.

Two other horses also got loose from their drivers in May and were running through Central Park unattended. In this incident, a driver broke his wrist trying to catch his horse and needed surgery.

The debate over allowing horse-drawn carriages in New York City has been going on for decades.

Former Mayor Eric Adams pushed for the City Council to pass Ryder’s Law in 2025. The bill was named after a carriage horse that collapsed in 2022 and died of cancer a few months later.

The law would’ve phased out the industry by stopping new licences from being issued and replacing the carriages with electric alternatives. It didn’t pass after four members voted against it.

Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS, said her team will work with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other elected officials to pass Ryder’s Law.

“Horses are unpredictable and nervous prey animals — hardwired to bolt when frightened — and forcing them to drag open carriages through chaotic Manhattan is reckless endangerment,” she said. “In a split second, someone could have been killed or seriously hurt.”

Mamdani previously stated his desire to ban the industry. In December, he said he supported removing horse carriages from Central Park.

The union representing carriage drivers said the industry supports the livelihoods of workers and their families.

“They are largely hardworking immigrants who take good care of their horses, and have consistently been attacked and slandered by monied interests who care nothing about animal welfare,” said TWU International President John Samuelsen in November.

He previously said the union is calling for a horse stable in Central Park to keep the animals off the streets.