Shocking video footage obtained by The New York Post shows a Central Park carriage horse dashing directly into busy Midtown traffic on January 8. The frightened animal bolted down Sixth Avenue near Central Park South after reportedly being left unattended, according to a source familiar with the matter. The video shows the horse running through multiple lanes of traffic and colliding with about five vehicles, including a yellow cab, before coming to a stop at about 11:20am. No injuries were reported.
“While cities around the world have banned [carriage horses], NYC is still gambling with lives in 2026,” stated animal advocacy group NYCLASS, which is renewing calls for a full City Council ban on carriage horses.
A representative for the Transport Workers Union, which represents Central Park’s carriage drivers, said they are “evaluating” penalties against the carriage driver.
“Carriage drivers have the highest responsibility to care for their horses, and this falls far short of our standards,” the rep said, noting the driver claims he was standing “near” the horse when it was “startled by a fast-moving Amazon delivery vehicle: an e-bike with a cargo trailer.”
Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS, told The Post horses are often illegally left unattended “because there’s no enforcement of that law.”
The incident is the latest in a string of cases of carriage horses running wild in NYC. Before leaving office, outgoing-mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order mandating the city’s horse-carriage drivers have their animals undergo a city-hired veterinarian inspection – probing for drugs, injuries and potential abuse – or risk losing their licenses. Mayor Zohran Mamdani revoked the order when he took office, but he has signaled support for “removing horse carriages from Central Park.”
Source: The New York Post
