Overview
- A horse-drawn carriage bolted on Wednesday, June 17, throwing 18-year-old tourist Romanch Mahajan from the vehicle and causing a head injury that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner classified as accidental blunt-force trauma.
- Witness accounts and the victim’s family say the driver stepped away to take a photo moments before the horse ran; the carriage owner has suspended the identified driver, Ertan Gokdepe, pending the NYPD probe.
- Transport Workers Union Local 100 closed stables and halted all carriage operations while it reviews safety procedures and cooperates with investigators.
- City Council leaders have scheduled a July hearing on Ryder’s Law, a proposal to phase out horse-drawn carriages and fund worker transition programs, and city officials have renewed calls for regulatory change.
- Ongoing veterinary necropsies, criminal inquiries and the sequence of recent incidents including a June 9 horse death will influence whether the city moves to ban carriages, require new safety measures, or seek a negotiated transition for drivers and horses.