Teenager dies after being thrown from horse-drawn carriage in Central Park | New York
A teenager died after being thrown to the ground after a carriage horse ran away from its driver in Central Park on Wednesday, according to police.
According to the New York Police Department, the 18-year-old was in a horse-drawn carriage with three other passengers when the accident occurred just before 3 p.m. At least two passengers were sent flying out of the shaking taxi.
The teenager was initially hospitalized in critical condition. Other passengers refused medical treatment.
A representative of the Transport Workers Union, which represents transport industry workers, said the driver dismounted his horse to take photographs of his passengers and they should not have done so.
The horse had only been at the park for six weeks, according to Alexander Kemp, executive vice president of the union’s local chapter. He said he wanted a full investigation.
“Safety in the park has become a growing concern for many people and improvements are needed across all vehicles, including e-bikes, delivery vehicles, pedicabs and horse-drawn carriages,” he said in a statement.
In the video, the horse is seen running quickly through the park while two people jump off the four-wheeler. In a second video, it is seen that the taxi overturned after the wheels of another carriage broke in the park’s heavy traffic.
This is an alarming moment for Central Park’s 150-year-old horse-drawn carriage industry. The industry has long been viewed as a quaint attraction that offers tourists a romantic relic of a bygone New York, providing hundreds of jobs for drivers as well as many farms and racehorses. But they now face the growing threat of a ban from opponents who say the rides are both inhumane for horses and dangerous to city residents.
Wednesday’s incident follows several recent problems with horses at the park, including the fatal collapse of a horse last week.
The Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that runs the park, said last summer’s back-to-back events to support a ban on horse-drawn carriages should put an end to the industry.
“A young man who came to enjoy our park lost his life,” the group said in a statement. “This is not an acceptable cost for a run-down industry operating in the middle of one of America’s most heavily used public spaces.”
Central Park covers approximately 850 acres and attracts millions of people every year.
