Today, the NYC Council voted to ban horse-drawn carriages. Assuming the Mayor signs the bill into law, the ban will take effect in June 2028. Among the many unsung heroes of this 20 year effort are two NYC Council Members who carried the bills when doing so cost them politically. They should be recognized because they placed the humane treatment of animals and public safety ahead of political expediency. In 2007, Council Member @TonyAvella introduced the first bill to ban horse-drawn carriages. Despite the fact that Speaker Christine Quinn blocked the bill, Mr. Avella kept the issue alive and in the public discourse until the end of his term. In 2022, Council Member @BobHoldenNYC introduced a new version of the bill named after Ryder, a horse whose dramatic collapse in midtown went viral and sparked global support for a ban. After a (human) teenager died in June 2026, the bill was renamed after the victim, Romanch Mahajan. Several of his family members, who are still in mourning, have been invaluable in advancing this bill. The movement to ban horse-drawn carriages began in earnest in January 2006. When a spooked horse named Spotty crashed into a moving car on Ninth Avenue and died, animal rights activist Elizabeth Forel launched the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. Her effort injected a ban into the public discourse. In 2008, businessman and animal advocate @SteveNislick founded @nyclass which invested in humane alternatives, including electric vintage cars. The horse-drawn carriage trade rejected the alternatives and falsely accused him of being motivated by a desire to develop the real estate where the "stables" are located. Despite the fact that mainstream media amplified that false and defamatory narrative, Mr. Nislick stayed in the fight. In 2017, longtime animal rights activist @Edita_NYC became NYCLASS's Executive Director. Since then, she has moved mountains to help the horses while advocating for a ban. This bill would not have passed without her and @SpeakerMenin who led the Council in moving the ban forward in the City Council - despite aggressive attacks by the bill's opposition. From the start, @peta organized high profile campaigns with celebrities and helped behind the scenes, never looking for credit, just results. That's a short version of a much longer and very dramatic history of the movement to ban horse-drawn carriages. On a final note, I took the picture below in Times Square in 2006. When I saw this horse pulling a carriage on a frigid night while ingesting the exhaust of the cars in front of him, I knew this was wrong. I'm relieved that these horses will be free in 2028, if not sooner.