A City Council committee voted Friday to kill the “Ryder’s Law” bill that would ban horse-drawn carriages from operating in and around Central Park, casting doubt over the future of the long-running push to abolish the industry.
The bill, introduced by outgoing Queens Councilman Bob Holden, was defeated in the chamber’s Health Committee after only one member, Brooklyn Councilman Simcha Felder, voted in favor of it. Four members voted against it and two abstained, while two others — including Council speaker candidate Julie Menin — didn’t show up.
The 1-4-2 tally on the legislation, named after a carriage horse who collapsed in Midtown Manhattan in 2022, means the measure’s effectively dead on the vine and won’t advance to a full Council vote.
It’s rare for Council bills to make it to a committee vote when they don’t have enough support to pass. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who’s leaving office at the end of the year due to term limits, has for months refused Holden’s demands to consider his horse carriage ban bill for a hearing or a vote.
But Holden, a conservative Democrat who’s also leaving office at the end of the year, forced Friday’s proceeding by invoking an arcane procedural rule that required the Health Committee to either hold a vote or schedule a hearing on the measure within 30 days.
Holden isn’t a member of the Health Committee. Still, he appeared at the proceeding and tried to get the committee to schedule a full hearing on the bill instead of directly voting on it, but that request was shot down by Health Committee Chairwoman Lynn Schulman (D-Queens).
“I’m going to file an injunction of discrimination,” Holden fumed in response to Schulman’s rejection. He didn’t elaborate on the nature of the alleged discrimination, but called it “disgusting” and his spokesman said later he plans to take court action to try to force the Council to hold a hearing on his bill.
Also after the hearing, Holden said in a statement the vote “was one of the most undemocratic displays I have ever witnessed in the New York City Council.” He accused the speaker and Schulman of not wanting “to hear from the public because they do not care about New Yorkers.”
Benjamin Fang-Estrada, a rep for Speaker Adams, suggested the bill didn’t pass because Holden didn’t work enough on building support for it. “To successfully advance a bill, it requires a lead sponsor to do the legislative work of building support with their colleagues and collaborating with stakeholders to bring people of different views together to advance solutions,” he said.
The effort to banish the horse carriages from Central Park goes back years, with ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio having unsuccessfully tried to do it before leaving office in late 2021.
Animal rights activists have long argued the industry should be banned on the grounds that the horses are being treated inhumanely, pointing to incidents of the animals collapsing in the middle of the street.
But the city’s Transport Workers Union has argued banning the industry would ruin the jobs of hundreds of carriage drivers and say there’s ways to ensure the horses’ safety.
TWU members — as well as animal rights activists — showed up in force to Friday’s hearing, with the Council having to set up three overflow rooms in order to accommodate everyone.
“[The horses] actually get enough exercise and activity and treats and human attention for them to be happy,” Joshua Sausville, a carriage driver for over 10 years, told The News outside the Council hearing room after Friday’s vote, which he attended with his 3-year-old son. “We’re getting lumped in with a lot of stuff that we are not. It’s unfair.”
Linda Mann, a Manhattan animal rights activist who attended the vote and supports a ban, said she’s “not only disappointed, but angry” that the Council opted to reject the bill outright instead of holding a full hearing on it.
“Horses have no voice, and no matter what they say, if you go to the stables, if you see how they’re treated daily, it’s not a life for an animal,” Mann said.
While the Holden bill is dead, it’s unlikely to spell the end of the fight over the city’s horse carriage industry.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who’s being sworn in Jan. 1, has voiced support for banning the industry, though he says he wants to engage in dialogue with the TWU to figure out a compromise on how the drivers can find similar jobs, potentially by getting electric carriages.
A Mamdani spokeswoman declined to comment on Friday’s vote.
The next Council will likely need to introduce a new bill similar to Holden’s and start the process from scratch in order to get a ban enacted.
On the 2021 campaign trail, Mayor Adams was against a ban on horse carriage drivers. But in September, Adams reversed himself and called on the Council to adopt a ban.
The TWU, led by union head John Samuelsen, has long claimed those pushing for a ban are motivated by financial interests.
Earlier this week, Samuelsen’s union filed a lawsuit against NYCLASS, the main animal advocacy group advocating for a ban, alleging that the organization had knowingly spread false claims to build support for getting rid of the horse carriage industry. That suit came after the union last month fired off legal threats to a number of other individuals, including Randy Mastro, Adams’ first deputy mayor who used to represent NYCLASS as an attorney.
