Latest news with #carriagehorses
CBS News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
NYC's Central Park Conservancy calls for ban on carriage horses in the park
For the first time, New York City's Central Park Conservancy is calling for a ban on carriage horses in the park. Conservancy President and CEO Elizabeth W. Smith wrote to Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to voice concerns about the treatment of the horses, as well as the safety of pedestrians. "We do not take this position lightly, but with visitation to the park growing to record levels, we feel strongly that banning horse carriages has become a matter of public health and safety for Park visitors," Smith wrote. She said the Conservancy is supporting the passage of Ryder's Law, which would prevent new carriage licenses from being issued and end carriage operations altogether, starting June 1, 2026. Ryder's Law is named for a carriage horse that collapsed in 2022 and died of cancer a few months later. His handler was found not guilty of animal abuse in a trial last month. The Conservancy's letter comes one week after a carriage horse collapsed and died on 11th Avenue. Among her concerns, Smith cited two recent incidents where horses got away from their handlers and ran free down the roadway before they were caught. "These events underscore the unpredictable nature of horses in an increasingly crowded and dynamic urban environment, and the risk to public safety can no longer be responsibly overlooked," Smith said. Another issue, Smith said, is the damage she says carriages are causing to the park's roadways. "It is not fair that this relatively tiny subset of commercial operators is allowed to do such damage to the park at the expense of the millions of joggers, cyclists, walkers and other visitors to the park each year," she said. She also accused carriage drivers of failing to clean up after their horses and ignoring no-parking signs. "Our paramount concern is for the health and safety of the people who love the park, and it is in their name that we respectfully request that we turn the page on horse carriages, just as other major cities across the globe already have. It is time," Smith wrote. The Transport Workers Union called the Conservancy's support for Ryder's Law outrageous and accused the organization of "desecrating the park's storied history." TWU International President John Samuelsen said in a statement that Smith calling horse-drawn carriages a public safety concern "is absolutely ridiculous." "The Conservancy has failed miserably to manage the swarming hordes of unlicensed and illegally motorized pedicabs, e-bikes, and electric scooters that pose the real threat," Samuelsen wrote. "Its redesign of park drives with new markings directing the different modes of travel is a complete disaster and universally despised. It fails to designate a mixed-use lane for carriages to use as there had been. No wonder it's even more chaotic than before." He said the union is calling for a horse stable in Central Park on land that is not currently open to the public so horses would not have to walk on city streets, adding that it could also be used for educational and therapeutic purposes. The union says the passage of Ryder's Law would impact about 200 workers in the carriage horse industry. There are currently 68 carriages with city-issued medallions that are operated by a total of about 170 drivers and owner-drivers. The stable for carriage horses employs about 30 staff members to care for about 200 city-licensed horses.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Arthur — the NYC carriage horse who famously crashed into two cars — found happy ending
All horses go to heaven. A New York City carriage horse that made headlines and spurred debate after bolting and crashing into two cars, has met a sad but peaceful end after an idyllic retirement on a sprawling farm in the Hamptons. In February 2018, a large gray draft horse named Arthur was spooked by a man yelling and opening an umbrella in Central Park. He ran off, carrying three Texas tourists in his carriage, and crashed into two parked cars. The incident left the passengers with minor injuries, the carriage crumpled and the cars with significant damage. Arthur, meanwhile, became something of a poster pony for animal activists and was whisked away to a horse sanctuary in Massachusetts. At the time, it was reported that a number of organizations and private citizens, including comedian Whitney Cummings, had expressed interest in adopting Arthur, but then the horse quietly trotted away from the spotlight. The Post can now exclusively report that Arthur was eventually adopted by Sabrina Rudin, a West Village restaurateur who took an interest in him after reading about his plight in this paper. 'I had always wanted to rescue a carriage horse … and something about him struck me,' said Rudin, 39, a native New Yorker who owns Spring Cafe Aspen in Greenwich Village and Aspen, Colo. She said the adoption process was 'complicated' because of the media attention around Arthur and political debate over carriage horses, but she persisted. In May 2018, his owners released him to Rudin. 'I was very clear that I just wanted to very privately bring him home … and give him a different kind of life,' said Rudin. Finding a stable large enough for Arthur, a towering Percheron gelding, proved challenging. But Rudin found a home for him at Swan Creek Farms in Bridgehampton. The barn's owners, Jagger and Mandy Topping, were able to combine two stalls to make a large enough home for Arthur. 'They helped me give him a really beautiful life,' said Rudin, who grew up riding horses. 'The first few times he saw grass, he was so excited, he was really happy, you could tell that he was really happy to be free.' In his first few months at Swan Creek, Arthur, a shy, gentle giant, struggled to make friends with any of the horses. Then, Mandy called Rudin one day with some surprising news: Arthur had become chummy with the barn's miniature donkey, Jingles. Despite their noticeable height difference, the two were inseparable. 'I was just cracking up laughing [when she told me],' Rudin recalled. The two pals enjoyed years of frolicking in grassy pastures together, spending most of their days outside. Arthur never pulled a carriage again, nor was he ever ridden. Rudin and her three young sons, ages 3 to 9, visited him often, showering him with carrots, apples and oat horse cookies. 'He was amazing with the boys,' she said. 'And it was a way to sort of teach them in a really nice, gentle way about something we can do for animals,' A few weeks ago, it was discovered that Arthur, who was estimated to be about 18 years old, had lymphoma and had a large mass in his rectum. He deteriorated rapidly at the Cornell Ruffian equine hospital in Elmont, NY, and couldn't go back to Swan Creek to see his friend a final time. So, last Sunday, the Toppings transported Jingles to the hospital to say goodbye. 'They had this very emotional reunion … Arthur could hear him coming down the hall, and Jingles was hee-hawing for him,' Rudin said. 'They spent the whole last morning together.' On Monday, Rudin cradled Arthur's head, whispered her love to him and cried as he went to sleep a final time. She asked the dying horse to send her a sign that he'd made it to the other side OK. The next day, a family friend was randomly sent an old photo of a friend's daughter standing with a carriage horse that looked like Arthur. The year was 2018. Rudin doesn't believe it was actually a photo of Arthur, but she does think it was him sending her a sign that he was ok. 'I do believe that wherever he is, that was a wink from him that he was safe,' she said. To be sharing his story with The Post, she said, is a 'full circle moment.' 'It feels like yesterday that I saw the article about him.'
