The operator of a runaway horse-drawn carriage that led to the death of an 18-year-old tourist is “devastated,” a rep said Thursday – as it was revealed all Central Park horse-and-buggy rides were halted.
“He’s absolutely devastated,” said Christina Hansen, shop steward for Transport Workers Union Local 100, outside carriage driver Ertan Gokdepe’s Queens home.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to him,” she said, noting that Gokdepe has been in the business for 20 years.
The scene of the Central Park carriage accident that killed Romanch Mahajan. Eyewitness News ABC7NYCarriage driver Ertan Gokdepe is “devastated” after Wednesday’s fatal crash. Brigitte Stelzer
Romanch Mahajan, 18, a tourist from India, was on vacation with his family when they booked a carriage ride in Central Park with Gokdepe.
But disaster struck when the horse, 7-year-old Sampson, became spooked as Gokdepe stepped out of the buggy to take a photo of the family, according to sources.
The horse bolted, knocking Mahajan’s mother, Priya, from the carriage.
“My son, just to save his mother, he fell off,” Mahajan’s father, Deepak told the New York Times. “He was screaming, ‘Mom!’”
He later died of blunt force trauma in what the city medical examiner has ruled an accidental death.
Video showed the spooked horse taking off during the fatal incident.
Alexander Kemp, a vice president at TWU Local 100, blasted the driver’s decision to step away.
“A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos — ever,” Kemp said in a statement. “We support a full investigation.”
For the union, the incident has created a sense of shock.
“This is uncharted territory,” Hansen said. “Nobody knows quite what to do because nothing like this has ever happened to our industry. It’s just awful.”
“We’ve never had a fatal accident like this before,” said Kemp.
The union closed down the stables and ceased operations in response to the tragedy.
“We have shuttered the stables and ceased operations today while we have extensive internal discussions on what transpired and how it could have been prevented,” Kemp said in a separate statement to NBC NY.
When Rory McIlroy won the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional by eight shots, it was easy to envision him carrying on to win a bunch more of them.
But that U.S. Open turned out to be a bit of an outlier.
McIlroy was a 22-year-old bull in a China shop back then — just gripping and ripping it with a talent level so extraordinary that he could get away with some poor shots here and there and win anyway.
McIlroy won that Open at 16 under par, a number that probably still has the older USGA heads, traditionally bent on making par a magnet for all competitors, queasy when they look back at that week.
The Parthenon’s restored west pediment is seen atop the Acropolis in Athens, Thursday, June 18, 2026, after Greece’s Culture Ministry unveiled the temple’s western side in its most complete form in more than 200 years. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
The idea was that just like a rainbow contains all of the colors, our society should welcome every kind of person and preference.
But there is one kind of person that is evidently not welcome: a Christian who believes the Bible means what it says.
The baseball players on the San Francisco Giants who decline to participate in Pride month, have often cited the Bible on their caps. Their chosen passage: Genesis 9:12-16.
The gay rights movement adopted the rainbow as its symbol several decades ago.
“And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations.
‘I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
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‘It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;
‘and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
‘The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’”
“And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations. AP Photo/Scott Marshall
Those words tell the true story of the origin of the rainbow.
God placed the rainbow in the heavens after the Flood, when he had punished the world for its evil ways.
It was a sign of a new beginning. God knew that the world would not be free from sin, but he also knew he could not keep destroying it and starting over.
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Instead of destruction, there would be redemption.
For Jews, that redemption would come through repentance, and the eventual journey to the Promised Land of Israel.
For Christians, that ultimate redemption would come through Christ, who forgives the sins of those who seek Him.
All of that is foretold in the rainbow.
For Christians, that ultimate redemption would come through Christ, who forgives the sins of those who seek Him. Getty Images
The baseball players who protest are not standing up against someone. They are standing up for their basic rights: freedom of expression, and freedom of religion.
They did not seek this confrontation. Yet they have risen to this test of their faith.
Freedom of expression, and freedom of religion, are not only American privileges. These are rights that were granted by God before by codified by the Founding Fathers in our governing documents.
Stronger, still, than that truth is the truth of the Bible, which makes it very clear that God is the designer and creator of mankind, male and female, and that in doing so he has built within us the passion and the ability to express truth.
But not all situations represent the truth. Those in professional baseball who support Pride month demand their freedoms and their rights to profess and proclaim what they believe in. They want to make a statement and to influence culture. Yet why isn’t that same liberty allowed for those who stand for Christ?
The baseball players who protest are not standing up against someone. They are standing up for their basic rights: freedom of expression, and freedom of religion. Getty Images
There is a gross hypocrisy in our culture today that seeks to indoctrinate and to manipulate those who may have a opposing view. Christians are told to get in line and shape up, and warned that they will be disciplined for not agreeing with whoever is in charge. That is the very opposite of tolerance, and exposes that Pride month is not about accepting everyone, but imposing a new set of beliefs.
The baseball players who declined to participate in Pride month, or who cited the Bible, have used their freedom of expression and their God-given opportunity to announce truth.
It’s a sad day in America when we have lost the ability to tolerate someone else’s view. And it is becoming clear that the LBGTQ+ agenda cannot tolerate the Judeo-Christian world view of God’s permanent design.
Pastor Jack Hibbs is president of The Real Life Network.
Shinnecock Hills lived up to its reputation as one of the toughest tests in golf on the opening day of a fog-delayed US Open.
When play did get under way, two hours later than scheduled, only six of the early starters broke par as strong winds buffeted an already tricky course on Long Island, New York.
Among them was world number two Rory McIlroy, whose one-under 69 left him one behind unfancied American Sam Stevens as the 78 players in the later wave headed out onto the course
And with the blustery conditions forecast to strengthen as the day wears on, both players will expect to remain firmly in the mix, given that in the four previous US Opens held at this venue, there have been 1,792 rounds and only 161 (9%) have been played under par. In fact, just three players have ended up under par after 72 holes.
Much of that was down to the substandard playing conditions at Shinnecock in both 2004 and 2018 with players accusing championship organisers the United States Golf Association (USGA) of “losing the course”.
Speaking recently to the No Laying Up podcast, USGA’s John Bodenhamer, the man responsible for course set-up this year accepted the previous conditions had been suboptimal but insisted they had “learned a lot”.
For example, water is being hosed onto the greens during the opening two rounds to stop them from drying out, and to keep the grass alive.
The US Open is generally regarded as the toughest of tests though and all the players spoke of needing to remain patient. And that patience was tested from the off on Thursday with low-lying cloud and fog shrouding the course.
However, once it had been dispersed by the strong gusts whipping in off the Atlantic Ocean, the true nature of the challenge ahead was laid bare.
Thick rough, five inches deep, flanks the fairways. Wispy fescue and undulating and fast greens add further layers of complexity to Shinnecock’s fearsome reputation.
Not that McIlroy seemed perturbed as the wind gusted beyond 30mph across the 7,440-yard track.
The six-time major winner, who started on the 10th, knocked in two birdies in the opening three holes and even bogeys at the 13th and 16th holes did not appear to provide him with any cause to revaluate his approach.
During the round McIlroy, who successfully defended his Masters title in April, told Sky Sports pundit and Solheim Cup great Mel Reid that because conditions were “consistent”‘ he was not finding things too bad at all.
He aptly demonstrated that after the turn with a birdie at the third and by carding a sensational eagle on the par-five fifth after hitting his tee shot a wind-assisted 396 yards before nudging his second shot to 11 feet.
Ivan Toney and Morgan Rogers were among the scorers as England recorded a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Major League Soccer side Sporting Kansas City in a practice match on Thursday.
The game, played behind closed doors at England’s Swope Soccer Village training facility, featured the players not used in Wednesday’s World Cup 4-2 win over Croatia and the squad members who did not play significant minutes in Dallas.
Toney scored a hat-trick while Aston Villa duo Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins were also on target as England ran out comfortable winners.
Jordan Henderson, Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Dan Burn, Kobbie Mainoo, Djed Spence and Jarell Quansah were among the players also involved in the training game.
The game was broken up into two halves of around 25 minutes each.
BBC Sport revealed on Tuesday that the Football Association had arranged the friendly to get minutes into certain players’ legs.
Having arrived back from Dallas at around 10.30pm local time on Wednesday, England players were afforded most of Thursday off.
Players were allowed to see family and friends immediately after the Group L game against Croatia, and loved ones were given access into the camp on Thursday to spend time with the team before they start preparations for next Tuesday’s game against Ghana in Boston (21:00 BST).
Captain Harry Kane and manager Thomas Tuchel were among a group of players and staff that attended a baseball game between Kansas City Royals and St Louis Cardinals later on Thursday.
Ask a group of friends and you’ll likely get a dozen different answers. Some insist the bill should always be split equally, others believe the person who sets up the date should pay and despite changing attitudes towards gender roles, many still see a man picking up the bill as a romantic gesture rather than an outdated tradition.
