A young man was critically hurt in Central Park after he was thrown from a horse-drawn carriage that flipped onto its side, in the second such incident in the park in the span of a week. The carriage came to rest on its side near Tavern on the Green, while the horse that had been pulling it broke loose and bolted across the park. The scene unfolded in the afternoon and quickly drew police and emergency crews.
According to police, an 18-year-old man was injured as he was thrown from the carriage and was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center. He was initially listed in critical condition and described by sources as being in grave condition, and he later died of his injuries. His death turned an already frightening accident into a tragedy and sharpened the questions surrounding the safety of the carriages.
Witnesses said a family of four had been at Cherry Hill, a spot near a bridge inside the park, and were getting back into the carriage when the horse, named Samson, became spooked and took off. They described the animal bolting faster than anyone had ever seen a horse take off inside Central Park, with the carriage overturning moments later as it was dragged along.
Video of the scene showed a person being thrown from the speeding carriage before it flipped over onto its side. The carriage driver was not aboard at the time of the accident; it appeared he had been helping the family climb back in when the horse suddenly bolted. It was not immediately clear exactly how many members of the family had been in the carriage when it took off.
People who saw it happen described a chaotic and frightening moment. Witnesses said the group had gone to see the bridge at Cherry Hill and everyone was getting back into the carriage when something startled the horse. It took off so suddenly that those aboard had no chance to react and were simply thrown, and one witness said the driver was left very shaken by what had happened.
In an updated statement, the Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents the carriage drivers, indicated that the driver had stepped an arm's length away from his horse to take a photo of his passengers in the carriage. The union called that unacceptable, stressing that a driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos at any time, and said it supports a full investigation into what happened.
The crash came just days after a separate carriage-horse incident in the same park, and it immediately revived calls for change. A spokesperson for the Central Park Conservancy said in a statement that the frightening situation, coming so soon after the previous one, underscored the dangers posed by horse carriages to park visitors, to the carriage drivers and to the horses themselves.
The Conservancy renewed its call to ban carriages in Central Park as a matter of public service, safety and public health, saying it hoped the day's injuries would be the last anyone ever sees. While officials noted that the circumstances of the two incidents were very different from one another, the latest crash was certain to reignite the long-running debate over the future of horse-drawn carriages in the park.