Central Park carriage drivers ask Mamdani to save their jobs ahead of the carriage ban

Horse-drawn carriage drivers asked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani this Wednesday to protect their jobs ahead of the law that ends the centuries-old industry in Central Park, during a City Hall hearing in which members of the transit workers' union said they felt abandoned.

"I thought you stood with us, working-class people, and our union, and our immigrant coworkers who poured their life savings into carriage medallions, pursuing the American dream," one driver charged during testimony that stretched for more than an hour.

The City Council passed last month, with a veto-proof majority, the bill known as "Romanch's Law," named for Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old tourist who was thrown to his death from a Central Park carriage in July. The measure would end a roughly 150-year-old tradition by the summer of 2028 and would take effect on June 1 of that year.

The drivers, about 200 according to the union, complain that the law includes no direct monetary compensation for them, only broad promises of job training for "new economic opportunities." Some say they paid more than $400,000 for the medallions that allow them to operate, a system similar to yellow cabs.

Mamdani, who has made standing up for working-class residents a centerpiece of his platform, has expressed support for the ban and has indicated he will sign the bill into law before the late-November deadline. At the hearing, the mayor said he respects the drivers' work and said the city is committed to hearing their concerns and creating "a fair and just and real transition" out of the workforce, though he offered no specifics.

The TWU Local 100 union, which represents the drivers, has promised to challenge the law in court as soon as it is signed.

Photo: Archivo A Lo Claro

Source: New York Post