Animal rights activists are calling for more oversight of the city’s carriage industry after three passengers were injured when a horse got spooked by an umbrella Sunday afternoon.
The horse was startled at about 12:15 p.m., ran down part of Central Park South and crashed into three parked cars, police said. The three passengers inside the carriage were taken to an area hospital with minor injuries, cops said.
The incident is the latest example of how the city’s “antiquated horse carriage rules” are endangering lives, according to the group New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), which advocates for laws to protect carriage horses.
“The enforcement of these carriages is a joke and it has only gotten more lax in the last four years, despite repeated assurances from City Hall,” NYCLASS Executive Director Edita Birnkrant said in a statement.
The group also demanded to see the results of a veterinary exam on the horse.
The horse, whose name is Arthur, and the driver of the carriage were not injured, said Christina Hansen, a spokeswoman for the city’s carriage industry.
“Everyone in the carriage industry works every day to ensure the safety of our horses, our passengers and the public, and our record speaks for itself,” she said in a statement. “That every single accident we have is considered news is a testament to the safety of our industry.”
In January, a horse carriage flipped over near Columbus Circle, according to NYCLASS and Patch.com. The incident happened when two drivers allegedly were racing to a pickup spot.
Hansen denied that the drivers were racing and said the horse was not injured, Patch reported.
NYCLASS has fought for a ban on carriage horses in the past, but more recently has called for legislation that would provide more protections to the animals, including barring rides from Times Square and only allowing them in Central Park. The advocates pushed for the passage of a bill at the end of 2017, but former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito did not call a vote.
A similar push in 2016, to restrict the rides to Central Park and move the stables to the park as well, fell apart when the Teamsters union pulled its support.
