On Wednesday, the City Council will take up legislation to phase out the industry.
The latest push follows the death of an 18-year-old tourist in Central Park, who was killed after being thrown from a carriage he was riding in.
Council Speaker Julie Menin in a video pledged her support for the bill, introduced by Council Member Christopher Marte.
"And I'm actively working on a plan to guarantee them quality working opportunities in the hospitality industry," Menin said.
It requires as many as five more council members to sign on.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he backs the goal of the bill, but won't be fully on board until stronger worker protections are included.
"I think that worker protections in that transition are critical," the mayor said. "And I think that there is an opening for us to have that conversation while we sunset this industry."
The family of 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan, the Indian tourist killed in a June 17 horse carriage in Central Park, will attend the hearing.
Hoping to prevent another tragedy, the family of Mahajan plans to testify by video to the city council, asking it to phase out the carriages.
"No other family should ever have to endure this horrific nightmare," Mahajan's uncle said.
It was the eighth serious accident involving the park's carriage horses in the last two years.
The bill has been renamed Romanch's Law in his memory.
On Tuesday, Mamdani reaffirmed his campaign promise to phase out the 400-year horse carriage in New York City.
"I think I've said over the course of both the campaign and while in office that I believe that we have to bring the industry to an end," Mamdani said.
"Initially it's been called Ryder's law named after a horse who passed away from, from working in Central Park. A month ago, a tourist from India died because of horse got spooked and ran off. So now it's called Romanch's Law," NYC Council Member Christopher Marte said.
The week before Mahajan was fatally tossed from a carriage, a horse died after eating a poisonous plant.
In August 2022, Ryder collapsed in Hell's Kitchen and later died.
"I introduced this bill two months ago, and I made this version particularly to include a workforce development concept into this bill," Marte said.
"This is the part that, you know, the city council seems to not be understanding that these are small businesses. I mean, people that have worked for decades in some cases to save up and buy a medallion," Christina Hansen with TWU Local 100 said.
Just like TLC drivers, carriage horse owners buy, sell or inherit their medallions, which have been capped at 68 since the end of WWII.
The bill would stop renewing the 2 year licenses for the park's 68 carriages.
"We were told there wasn't room then. But since then, we've added hundreds of pedi-cabs, thousands of e-bikes, and, you know, there's still the same 68 carriages. And now they're trying to tell us that there isn't room for us anymore," Hansen said.
The current City Council bill to ban horse-drawn carriages was introduced on June 11, on the same day a counter bill was introduced to conduct a study and reform the industry.
The debate is passionate on both sides.
The Central Park Conservancy will be among those testifying, suggesting the city consider adding the drivers to its workforce.
"I have to believe that somewhere in that vast network of jobs, there are 200 openings that would match the skills of these drivers and would provide them great benefits, you know, pension, health care, time off, all the things that they do not have right now as independent operators," VP of Central Park Conservancy David Saltonstall said.
"People choose to work with horses because we love horses, not because you want to go stacked boxes in an Amazon warehouse," Hansen said.
"I don't question their love for, for their for their horses. I do question the safetiness," Marte said.
"We support the spirit of the bill. We are, however, critical of the insufficiencies of the worker protections and we look forward to working with the Council to address those concerns, as we move forward on an important issue for New Yorkers," Mamdani said.
The conservancy says it also agrees with the drivers concerns about speeding e-bikes, and says a safer, carriage-free park in the future should also have a 15 mile per hour speed limit that's well enforced.