Carriage riders jump out of speeding buggy as spooked Central Park horse runs wild: video
A peaceful carriage ride turned dangerous Monday morning when a horse pulling a buggy in Central Park got spooked and bolted, forcing two terrified passengers to leap for their lives as the animal galloped out of control.
Disturbing footage shared on TikTok shows one rider falling out and another jumping from the moving carriage as the panicked horse tore through the park around 11:10 a.m., crashing into signs and garbage cans. The chaotic scene stretched from around 68th Street to Bethesda Fountain—about five blocks—before ending in a collision with a parked carriage.
@off.the.press.news A horse went haywire in New York City’s Central Park on Monday, knocking down a street sign and taking off with its carriage as a man jumped safely to the street. #news #shorts #nyc #newyork #manhattan #centralpark #horse #animals #breaking #carriage #bronx #brooklyn #queens #longisland ♬ original sound – Off The Press
The carriage driver attempted to stop the horse but was thrown onto the pavement in the process, according to the animal advocacy group NYCLASS. Multiple ambulances arrived on scene, but as of Monday afternoon, the condition of those involved—both human and animal—had not been publicly disclosed.
Witnesses described the scene as frightening. “It’s unpredictable—he could have trampled in any direction,” said 31-year-old Manhattan resident Danielle Chin, who watched in horror as passers-by scrambled to get out of the way. “Luckily, the horse knew the loop path, but there were so many tourists around who didn’t know how to react.”
The incident comes just weeks after the Central Park Conservancy publicly opposed the continued use of horse-drawn carriages in the increasingly crowded park.
“Today’s incident only underscores our concern about the dangers posed by horses in the park,” a spokesperson for the Conservancy said in a statement to The Post.
According to NYCLASS, this marks the fourth runaway carriage incident in Central Park this summer alone. Executive Director Edita Birnkrant called the situation “violent” and “crystal clear evidence” that both the public and horses remain at risk as long as the carriage industry continues to operate.
“There’s no more time to wait. Every day of delay is gambling with lives,” Birnkrant said, calling for urgent action on a proposed citywide ban and public hearing on the future of horse-drawn carriages.
The union representing carriage drivers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reflecting on the near-miss, Chin added: “It was pure chance that nobody was crossing the street where the horse ran off. That stop sign it crashed into—what if it had been a person? How long are we going to keep doing this until someone actually gets hurt?”
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