The "neigh"-sayers won't have it! Carriage horse drivers and medallion owners gathered at the entrance of Central Park on Friday to deliver a clear message to City Council Speaker Julie Menin: Legislation she intends to see passed next week to end their industry is "unacceptable."

Christina Hansen, TWU Local 100 's shop steward for Central Park's carriage horse industry, slammed Menin and Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Oct. 16 for reaching a deal earlier this week on outlawing the industry . With 30 co-sponsors out of 51 council members, the legislation is all but assured to pass the full council in a vote scheduled for Oct. 22 before going to Mamdani's desk for his signature.

The measure was named Romanch's Law by its sponsor, City Council Member Christopher Marte (D-Manhattan), after 18-year-old Romanch Mahajan was killed after being thrown from a horse carriage in June. While Mahajan was the first human to be killed during a horse carriage ride in Central Park over the industry's 168 years of operation, his death came after years of incidents in which horses bolted around the park or into traffic or collapsed on the job.

In addition to banning horse carriage operations in the park and ending the issuance of their licenses, the council amended the legislation to contain language around establishing a "workforce transition program" to assist industry workers in finding other employment. It also says the city must "consider" compensating owners for the value of their businesses, licenses, and equipment.

But Hansen, who has driven a carriage in the city herself for 14 years, charged that the bill's safeguards are wholly inadequate. She added that the legislation also does little to protect soon-to-be out-of-work horses either.

"T his bill does not do what the speaker promised her council members and her constituents and the people of New York, and the workers and owners here in this business that it would do," Hansen said. " It does not protect the horses. It's bad for horses. It does not protect the workers. It's bad for workers. It does not protect the medallion owners. It's bad for them. It destroys people and horses' lives."

Alexander Kemp, Local 100's executive vice president, contended the bill has zero guaranteed protections for workers. He railed against its proposal for establishing a workforce transition program, which the bill says must at minimum include referrals for carriage horse industry workers to jobs at government agencies such as the MTA as well as the provision of training and career fairs.

" There is no protection for the workers in this bill," Kemp said. " I challenge every single person who signed onto the bill to show me where exactly it says that there are guaranteed protections to transition this industry into worker jobs."

Both Hansen and Kemp also blasted Menin for standing with animal rights groups — such as PETA and New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), which have led the fight to ban carriage horses for many years. They claimed the groups use aggressive tactics to push their agenda and spread falsehoods about carriage drivers and owners mistreating their equines.

In response, Menin spokesperson Jack Lobel insisted that the bill ensures "meaningful protections" for carriage industry workers. He also stressed that Local 100 was part of the conversations that shaped the version of the legislation the council is passing.

"Through thoughtful conversations with labor and other stakeholders, the council developed a framework to ensure better economic opportunities for these New Yorkers," Lobel said in a statement. "As the Administration implements the plan, Speaker Menin’s office will remain engaged in the transition process, including through a new joint working group that she has invited TWU and the Administration to join.”

One carriage horse driver at the event, Ahmet Bilici, who has been operating a hansom cab for 23 years, said he spent his life savings on his medallion. He likened Menin and Mamdani to the mobsters for passing legislation that will take away his medallion without guaranteed compensation.

"T he mayor and the speaker coming like mafia, like a gangster, and they come and take my business, my home," Bilici said. " Put me out of business. Put me out in the streets. Make me homeless."

Hansen said the carriage workers are weighing whether to bring a lawsuit if the council goes through with passing Romanch's Law next week. " Well, there's all kinds of defects in this bill," she said. "O bviously, there's no lawsuits until the city actually does something."

Ethan Stark-Miller is amNewYork's Transit Editor. He covers the MTA (including the subways and buses), the city Department of Transportation, and all other forms of getting around in the Big Apple. He previously covered politics for amNY.