Eighteen-year-old Romanch Mahajan died on Wednesday after a horse forced to pull a carriage bolted in Central Park.

According to reports and video from the scene, the horse suddenly ran, sending the attached carriage—carrying a family—out of control until it eventually overturned. Romanch Mahajan suffered fatal injuries after falling from the carriage while trying to protect his mother.

His family has since made clear that they want New York City to stop horse-drawn carriage rides immediately.

This tragedy was a disaster waiting to happen in an industry that keeps forcing horses to haul passengers through one of the busiest, most chaotic urban environments in the country.

Mahajan’s heartbreaking passing comes just one week after Deniz, a horse exploited for carriage rides, collapsed and died while being forced to pull passengers in Central Park. The next day, PETA joined NYCLASS and members of the City Council—including bill sponsor Christopher Marte—at a rally on the steps of City Hall to push for a horse-drawn carriage ban.

On Monday morning, PETA joined city and state elected officials at a memorial vigil at Cherry Hill Fountain in Central Park, near the site of the accident. There, a statement from the family called on Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council to end all carriage rides immediately and permanently.

New York City cannot keep pretending this industry can be made safe. For years, PETA has sounded the alarm. Now the facts are even harder to ignore: a teenager is dead, another horse is dead, and the family at the center of this tragedy is calling for the city to act.

New York must end horse-drawn carriage rides before this cruel and dangerous industry harms anyone else.

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