Horse and Carriage Rides Skyrocket as Tourists Return to Central Park Just in Time for Christmas

Samantha Chaney

Since New York City fully reopened this summer, the tourist entertainment industry is back in full swing. As families stroll through the entrance pathway of Central Park at the corner of 7th Ave & West 59th Street, they’re greeted by the friendly sight of horses that were absent during the city’s shutdown in the COVID-19 pandemic. More than a dozen horses dressed in red, purple, and blue halters are harnessed to carriages in a single file. Each wagon is driven by men bundled in thick coats, waving down potential customers to take a ride in the brightly colored velvet seats.

The shutdown last year was hard on drivers like Kemal, who asked to be identified by his first name only. “We were out of work from March to October, so we took the horses to a farm,” said Kemal, who has been driving horse-drawn carriages in Central Park for 12 years. “But business has come back way better than we ever expected. I think it’s really because people are able to be outside. So, they’re comfortable.”

Some days are much busier than others for drivers like Kemal and his horse Bella. On a Sunday afternoon, there may only be a few minutes to spare between rides. While on slower business days, drivers can be seen huddled together chatting in Turkish as they wait for their next customers.

Kemal, who speaks with a heavy Turkish accent and wears a knit black stocking cap pulled down past his eyebrows, immigrated to the United States in 2006. He says driving carriages in Central Park is a job that many people like himself were referred to. “There are a lot of Turkish people doing this, driving. It’s not really coincidental. It’s more like one person starts doing it and then tells someone else and then we all just do it now.”

Peter Wilson, who has been driving carriages in Central Park for the past 16 years echoed the same sentiment. “One of the other drivers around here is a good friend of mine and told me about it years ago. I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Dressed in a red top hat and a long black overcoat with red trimming covering the ski suit he claims all drivers wear, Wilson says seeing people happy keeps him coming back year after year. “Everyone that rides is happy and looking forward to it. There are no arguments in a carriage,” he said with a laugh, “If you want to do that, you’d just get into a taxi cab.”

Horse-drawn carriage rides have been available in Central Park since it opened in 1858, notwithstanding the 1918 flu, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more than a century of change. In 1863, the first exclusively tourism-based carriage rides were offered for a fare of 25 cents a passenger and operated at that rate throughout the 19th century. Today, men and women like Kemal and Wilson stand outside for up to 9 hours, seven days a week, waiting to give rides that range in price from $57.47 for 15 minutes to $149.43 for 55 minutes.

But Sundays are slower. “On Sunday’s we can kind of relax,” Kemal said. If you don’t want to start until 11am, you can just stay at the stables for a while.”

As one carriage returns from a tour, another quickly follows in an assembly-line fashion. Each horse’s style is different, so customers can tell one from another. They are dressed in bedazzling halters and wearing multicolored circus-style feather plumes, and each carriage is decorated with artificial flower arrangements. On chilly winter days, as carriages travel down the park’s curving pathways, customers can also be seen snuggling together under a thick blanket, the same color as the carriage.

The horse’s headgear and carriage decorations aren’t the only things that make them unique. Their personalities are different too. “The horses are just like us. They each have a different temperament,” Wilson says as he points to a horse named Johnny Cash that bucks and continuously pulls his carriage onto the sidewalk. “Some of them are calm. Then you may get one like this that’s wild. Others bite.”

At the front end of multiple wagons displays a sign: “NYC Horse Carriage Rides™ EST. 1979. I love New York.” The sign represents a family-owned & operated company run by Giuseppe and Frank Riccobono, a father and son. According to the company’s webpage, after emigrating to New York City from Sicily, Giuseppe started the business in 1979 and has worked in the tourist entertainment industry for more than 40 years. Today, the family business is managed by Frank and contributes to the park’s 68 carriages.

When the park emptied out during the pandemic shutdown, drivers like Kemal suffered. “We drove Uber, delivered food and kind of just tried to make it like everyone else in New York,” he said.

Another driver chimes in with a laugh, “During the pandemic, we just stayed home and fought with our wives.”

Unlike many small businesses that didn’t survive being closed for seven months, NYC Horse Carriage Rides™ made it. Kemal is grateful. “We’re open, so we’re lucky,” he said, warming his hands by blowing on them.

He gives credit to tourists for revitalizing the business. Just four days before Thanksgiving and a little over a month until Christmas, Central Park is filled with patrons. Which means business is booming for those offering horse-drawn carriage tours in Central Park. “This is one of the busiest times,” he said, “because we get a lot of tourists, especially Europeans from the UK. They come on vacation here because they haven’t been able to travel. So, they love this.”

Wilson says while business is good right now, it doesn’t always remain that way. “After Christmas, maybe during the first two weeks of January, it’ll be even colder than right now. During that time, we may only get one to two rides per day and that’ll make it harder to be out here all day.”

When this happens, Kemal says he’ll no longer be able to drive. “This is seasonal. So, after the new year, I’ll move on to something else until next year.”

Whether on a romantic date night, visiting New York City for the first time, or celebrating the Christmas holiday, New Yorkers and tourists alike catch a ride in these carriages to visit popular landmarks in the 843-acre park, including the Conservatory Water, Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, and Strawberry Fields.

“Where’s our carriage? How much longer until it comes back?” a little girl whines as she pulls on her mother’s coat and kicks her legs.

“You see all the horses, yeah? They’re all so pretty, right? How about we ride in another one?” her mother offers as carriages come and go.

“No!” the little girl cries, as tears fill her eyes. “It has to be the purple one.”

The cobblestoned carriage with purple velvet seats returns from a tour and the family of five jumps inside. “This is so comfortable,” the girl shouts.

As they all settle into the carriage, it begins to roll backward. “Jack! Stand still. You’re such a silly boy!” says the carriage driver, as he adjusts his top hat. “Are you guys ready? Silly boy Jack sure is ready.”

The family yells “Yes!” in unison, and the driver says, “So, let’s go.” And the horse trots off for another routine tour around Central Park.