We are jeering the NYC Council Committee on Health, which Friday morning voted against moving Ryder’s Law forward. 

The legislation, named after a horse who collapsed in Hell’s Kitchen in the summer of 2022, would have phased out the city’s longstanding and controversial horse carriage industry altogether by stopping new licenses from being issued and replacing the carriages with electric alternatives. 

“This was one of the most undemocratic displays I have ever witnessed in the New York City Council,” City Councilmember Robert Holden, the bill’s sponsor, told CBS News. “The Council could not care less what New Yorkers think. Even a member of the Committee said openly that decisions are made behind closed doors with Council leadership and special interests, not with the public.”

Following Ryder’s incident, 71 percent of New Yorkers supported a ban on horse carriage rides.

Holden had no support from Council leadership to bring the bill for a vote, so he invoked a procedural rule that allows primary sponsors of bills to force a Committee vote. The Health Committee voted it down with 4 ‘no’ votes, 1 ‘yes’ vote and 2 abstentions.

Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams urged councilmembers to pass Ryder’s Law in September, reversing his long-standing position. He also issued an executive order to boost oversight of the industry. 

Friends of Animals has pressed to abolish, not regulate the carriage horse trade, for more than four decades.  With its nose to tail-pipe existence, the carriage horse industry will never recognize who horses are—they will always be a means of entertainment and profit. That’s why the only equitable, sensible and humane solution is to shut down the industry; save the horses and take them to sanctuaries; and for the city and carriage drivers to come to an agreement about the creation of new jobs.

In addition to their instinct to flee from danger, NYC carriage horses are also robbed of daily turnout, which is necessary for their health and happiness.

And we look forward to working with new council members and leadership to put the final nail in the coffin of this barbaric industry.

Here are just some of the troubling incidents that underscore the need to put the nail in the coffin of the industry one and for all:

•In August 2022, Ryder collapsed at the intersection of West 45th Street and 9th Avenue. The New York City Police Department intervened to help Ryder get back on his feet, and Ryder later died that October.

•In response, advocates asked the City Council to pass Ryder’s Law, legislation to phase out horse-drawn carriages and replace them with electric alternatives

•In August 2025, another carriage horse named Lady collapsed and died at West 51st Street and 11th Avenue, bringing proposals for reform or closure of the carriage industry back into the spotlight.

• In September 2025 carriage horse Bambi took off running in Central Park. Bambi ran out with no person at the reins, frightening visitors and causing three horse carriage passengers to jump out of the speeding buggy. Earlier this year, in May, a similar incident occurred when a pair of runaway carriage horses broke a driver’s wrist and injured others in Central Park after they bolted.