A teenage tourist was killed after a horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park turned into a horrifying runaway crash, authorities and sources said.
The teen was riding in the carriage with two other passengers on Wednesday afternoon when the operator reportedly stepped away to take a photo of the group.
The passengers were visiting from India, according to sources.
The incident happened around 2:45 p.m. near 71st Street and Centre Drive, where the carriage driver was allegedly at least an arm’s length away from the horse when the animal became startled and bolted.
“The horse got scared and ran super fast,” Tatianna Bresler, who works at Tavern on the Green, told The Post.
Bresler said she called 911 as soon as she saw the crash unfold and heard screaming nearby.
“The immediate reaction was just like ‘oh my god, oh my god my god,’ like covering my eyes because I thought maybe someone had gotten smushed or something I couldn’t even imagine, and then I called 911,” the 20-year-old said.
According to sources and the Transit Workers Union, the carriage horse driver had stepped away from his post to take a photo of the passengers when the horse took off.
A witness was reportedly able to slow the runaway horse before the carriage flipped.
The teen passenger was thrown from the carriage and struck his head, sources said.
The carriage then hit the wheel of another horse-drawn carriage before toppling over, the TWU said.
Dramatic video from the scene reportedly showed the carriage operator sprinting after the runaway horse as the teen fell from the carriage.
The teen was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he later died. The other two passengers did not report injuries, sources said.
The operator caught up to the horse farther south in Central Park, near Tavern on the Green.
The horse, a 7-year-old named Sampson, appeared to be stable and uninjured, according to police and the union.
“This is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos — ever. We support a full investigation,” TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President Alexander Kemp said in a statement to The Post.
Kemp also called for enhanced driver training, tougher exams with a practical component and stronger rules for introducing new horses into the business.
“Thousands upon thousands of rides are taken without incident, but steps must be taken to prevent accidents like this,” he said.
Helen David, a pedicab driver in Central Park, rushed to the scene and said the victim’s family was distraught.
“I saw the paramedics. I saw the ambulance. I saw everybody’s trying to, like, assist the person. You know, trying to put them on a stretcher,” David said.
The tragedy is expected to intensify the long-running debate over horse-drawn carriages in New York City.
David said Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council should reconsider whether the carriages belong in the city at all.
“They belong in a pasture now. They gotta go,” David said.
The fatal crash came about a week after a carriage horse named Deniz collapsed and died in Central Park, likely after consuming a toxic plant.
Deniz fell at Strawberry Fields around 7:30 p.m. on June 9. Witnesses described the horse’s death as agonizing after the animal began thrashing on the ground.
Only weeks before that, a coachman was injured when a spooked carriage horse charged into another horse-drawn carriage and caused it to overturn in Central Park.
The Central Park Conservancy said Wednesday’s incident underscored the danger posed by horse carriages to park visitors, drivers and the horses themselves.
“That this frightening situation is just days after the previous one underscores the dangers posed by horse carriages to Park visitors, carriage drivers, and the horses themselves,” the group said.
The conservancy renewed its call to ban carriages in Central Park as a public safety and public health issue.
Ryder’s Law, a bill that would phase out horse carriages, was reintroduced to the City Council on Thursday. The bill is named after Ryder, a carriage horse who collapsed while working on a hot day in August 2022.
The City Council’s health panel declined to advance Ryder’s Law out of committee in November, despite support from equine activists and former Mayor Eric Adams.
Edita Birnkrant, executive director of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, called on Mamdani to use an executive order to shut down horse-drawn carriages after the recent string of incidents.
“A horse dropped dead last week,” Birnkrant said. “They’re not well cared for. Horses are also nervous prey animals who are hardwired to bolt when frightened.”
Manhattan Councilman Christopher Marte, the bill’s prime sponsor, said the latest incident shows the city can no longer delay action.
“Enough is enough,” Marte said. “This is yet another serious and terrifying incident involving a carriage horse in Central Park, and it should make clear to everyone that delay is no longer defensible.”
He added that no minor reform can make a frightened 1,800-pound animal safe in a crowded public park.
“The Council must pass Ryder’s Law and end horse-drawn carriages before the next preventable tragedy is even worse,” Marte said.
