*warning: graphic and disturbing video

For 10 years, a gelding named Deniz worked as a carriage horse in New York City. Dodging honking cars on busy streets, working in the summer heat, and hauling a carriage filled with people through the park and streets of New York. On Tuesday, he collapsed and died in Central Park, devastating onlookers and reigniting the call to ban horse-drawn carriages.

Christina Hansen, Transport Workers Union Local 100 Shop Steward, identified the horse as 16-year-old Deniz. She said, "Deniz was last seen by the NYPD Mounted Unit’s veterinarian in March and found to be fit. Sadly, horses, just like other domesticated animals, have catastrophic and sudden health incidents."

The carriage driver and owner, Nurettin Kirbiyik, is devastated and states, "There were no signs Tuesday that he was ill. He was eating and drinking, acting normally."

Deniz suddenly collapsed in the park on Tuesday evening and fell on his side struggling to breathe. Park goers stopped to help remove his harness as Kirbiyik tried CPR - but Deniz died just moments later. 

It was a traumatic and heartbreaking death witnessed by many. 

He will be taken to Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine to discover cause of death. 

Animal activists have been trying to ban carriage horses for nearly four years with Ryder's Law, a bill named after a carriage horse who collapsed in 2022 and was later euthanized. Last year, another carriage horse named Lady collapsed and died in a Manhattan intersection. 

Activists plan to reintroduce the bill to the City Council after this heartbreaking death. Mayor Zohran Mamdani is also in support of the ban and said on Wednesday, "I know that many New Yorkers were disturbed by what they saw yesterday, and I’m one of them." 

He went on to say that he plans to "figure out a way" to ban horse-drawn carriages while working, "with union partners and community leaders to actually deliver on that.”

Take action by signing the petition below to be a voice for horses in NYC and end carriage rides.