Mamdani and Menin betray workers with horse carriage ban

By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit · October 14, 2026

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Speaker Julie Menin agreed to ban horse carriages by 2028, but their hollow transition plan abandons immigrant workers to financial ruin.

The lie of the just transition

New York City is about to kill a legacy industry and call it progress. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin have reached a deal to outlaw horse-drawn carriages by June 2028. They call the legislation Romanch's Law. They frame it as a victory for public safety and animal rights. But look at who pays the price. The city is trading the livelihoods of hundreds of working-class immigrant families for a political win.

The tragedy that sparked this is real. Romanch Mahajan was an 18-year-old tourist from India. In June, he fell and died after the horse pulling his carriage bolted. His father told the council he cannot describe the "real, true fear inside that carriage." Then there is the animal suffering. A horse named Dennis died this year after eating a toxic plant. According to the BBC, there are ongoing concerns about inhumane treatment.

The city’s case is powerful. No one should die for a tourist ride. No animal should suffer in a concrete jungle. Speaker Julie Menin says the tradition has become a "growing public safety liability." This is the strongest argument for a ban. But the city is using these tragedies to mask a theft. They are not just banning a practice; they are erasing the equity of the people at the bottom.

The city promises a "just transition." A spokesperson for the mayor claims they are working with union partners to protect workers. The bill offers job placement, training, and career counseling. It says the city will "consider" financial compensation for owners. To anyone who has seen a city "transition" plan, this is a red flag. In my hometown of Flint, we learned a hard lesson. When the government promises to "consider" the vulnerable, they usually prepare to abandon them.

The pattern of planned obsolescence

This is the same mechanism as coal mine closures in Appalachia. In both cases, a legacy industry is shut down for safety or environmental reasons. In both cases, the government promises a "transition plan." And in both cases, those plans are a joke. They offer "job counseling" to people who have spent their lives in one trade. It is a way to clear the land or the park without paying the people who built the industry.

We have seen this movie before in New York. The entry of Uber and Lyft into the New York City taxi industry destroyed the value of city-issued medallions. Small business owners who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on those licenses were left with crushing debt. The city watched it happen. Now, they are doing it again.

The Transport Workers Union represents 300 horse-carriage drivers and owners. John Samuelsen, the union's international president, calls the bill "disgraceful political opportunism." He notes that the city only says it "should" prepare a plan. He is right to be angry. "Job fairs" do not pay a mortgage. "Counseling" does not replace a lost business.

This is a systemic shift in governance that mirrors the Detroit Public Schools Community District transition. In both instances, the state moves the goalposts on the people who provide the service. They call it a "modernization" or a "safety measure." But the result is always the same: the workers lose their leverage and their income.

The betrayal of the base

The betrayal here is personal. Zohran Mamdani is a democratic socialist. He was elected with the hope of protecting the working class. Yet, he is backing a bill that threatens immigrant families. John Samuelsen joined Mamdani's transition committee in November 2025. He helped build the administration that is now destroying his members' lives. That is a bitter pill for any union member to swallow.

Then there is Council Member Christopher Marte. He sponsored Romanch's Law. Marte is the son of Dominican immigrants. His father ran a bodega and his mother worked in a factory. He knows what it means to build a small business from nothing. He knows that for an immigrant family, a license is not just a piece of paper. It is the only bridge to the middle class.

Politico reports that efforts to ban these carriages have been attempted since 2010. For 16 years, the city has toyed with this industry. They let drivers invest their life savings into medallions and horses. They let them build businesses based on city regulations. Now, the city wants to flip the switch and leave the workers holding the bag.

Christina Hansen of the union puts it plainly. She asks what job counseling does when you have bills to pay. The industry has operated in Central Park since 1858. The city cannot simply decide a business is obsolete and wipe out the property rights of its poorest operators.

The cost of progress

The city is choosing the easiest path. It is easy to pass a law in the name of a dead teenager. It is easy to please animal welfare advocates. It is hard to actually fund a just transition. Justice would require the city to buy back every single medallion at its peak market value. It would require guaranteed income for every driver until they are truly resettled.

Instead, Mamdani and Menin are offering "consideration" and "counseling." They are treating working-class livelihoods as an administrative detail. They are using the death of Romanch Mahajan to justify this policy. It will create a new wave of financial ruin for immigrant families.

The city believes that because the industry is "legacy," the workers are disposable. They think that because the horses are the face of the problem, the drivers are invisible. But the ledger always balances. When the city saves on public liability, the cost lands elsewhere. It hits the zip codes of the people who do the work.

The city is not ending a liability; it is creating a new one. By failing to guarantee full financial restitution, the city is ensuring a protracted legal war. The Transport Workers Union will fight this in court because they have no other choice. When the government offers "job fairs" instead of checks, the only tool left for the worker is the lawsuit.

The city’s "just transition" is a hollow shell. It is a political performance designed to look progressive while acting with the coldness of a corporate liquidation. If Mayor Mamdani wants to lead a socialist city, he must pay the workers. He should pay the full value of what the city is stealing. Anything less tells the working class their survival is an acceptable cost. It is just the cost of doing business.

Mamdani and Menin betray workers with horse carriage ban

The lie of the just transition

The pattern of planned obsolescence

The betrayal of the base

The cost of progress

Sources