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The New York City Council has voted to ban horse-drawn carriages, ending a Central Park tradition that dates back more than 160 years.

Getting into it: The council passed the bill Thursday, which stops the city from issuing new carriage licenses and shuts the industry down by June 2028. Mayor Zohran Mamdani supports it and has said he’ll sign it. The law, named Romanch’s Law, is named after Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old tourist from India who died in June after being thrown from a carriage when the horse bolted, the first known passenger death since the rides began.

Weeks earlier, a carriage horse named Deniz had collapsed and died in Central Park, and the Manhattan Borough President’s office says that there have been roughly 40 carriage horse deaths in the park since 1982.

Under the bill, City Hall has until April 2027 to put together a transition plan for the roughly 200 people who work in the industry, including more than 150 drivers, with career counseling, job referrals and possible compensation for carriage owners. It also bans the horses from being slaughtered. Union opposition sank earlier attempts at a ban under both Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams.

Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents the drivers, vowed to sue the city “the minute the ink dries,” arguing the bill doesn’t compensate workers who paid thousands for carriage medallions. Drivers argue one accident shouldn’t sink an entire industry, with driver Alexus Lawson asking, “Without a job, how can I take care of my horses?”

Republican Councilmember Joann Ariola pulled her support the day before the vote, saying drivers deserve “a clear path forward.” Trump also weighed in, calling the carriages “a Great Tradition” that “will be missed.”

This all comes as Chicago, San Antonio and Philadelphia have each outlawed horse-drawn carriages within the last five years, and as Mahajan’s family pushed for the ban, with his uncle saying, “the hour of justice has finally arrived.”