Carriage Horse Collapses, Dies In Central Park, Police Say

CENTRAL PARK, NY — A 16-year-old carriage horse named Denise died in Central Park on Tuesday night after a medical episode, NYPD officials said, renewing calls to ban the carriage rides altogether.

According to the NYPD, Denise collapsed and died while giving two people a ride around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at West 72nd Street and West Drive.

The New York City Department of Health will perform a necropsy on the horse to determine the cause of death, police said. As of Wednesday morning, no criminality is suspected, police said.

This tragic death has renewed the fight to get horse-drawn carriage rides banned from New York City, with critics calling the practice "a public safety risk."

"The Central Park Conservancy has long believed that horse carriages pose a public safety risk in the increasingly crowded Park," the Central Park Conservancy said in a statement. "In the past year, New Yorkers have witnessed at least seven separate incidents in which horses became spooked and either broke free — posing danger to passengers, park-goers, and others—or caused injury to their drivers, or, now, collapsed and died on Central Park’s Drives. It’s time to end this practice."

This past August, a carriage horse named Lady collapsed and died in Hell's Kitchen, just weeks after a New York jury acquitted carriage horse driver Ian McKeever of animal abuse charges for Ryder, a 30-year-old carriage horse who collapsed while on the job and later had to be put down.

A City Council bill from 2024, named for Ryder, would ban the practice altogether, but it didn't pass.

Councilmember Chris Marte vowed late Tuesday night to reintroduce Ryder's Law this Thursday, he said in a joint statement with Julie Cappiello, the president of Voters for Animal Rights.

"This Thursday, Council Member Marte will introduce Ryder’s Law, legislation to transition New York City away from horse-drawn carriages and toward a safer, more humane future," the statement reads. "The death of a carriage horse in Central Park tonight is a heartbreaking reminder that this system no longer works — not for horses, and not for the workers whose livelihoods depend on an industry facing an uncertain future."

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.