Yesterday evening a driverless carriage horse broke free of his bridle near 55th street, bolted into Central Park and slammed into an open taxi door at 59th Street. The horse, Pumpkin, was eventually corralled by carriage horse drivers.

While no one—no humans or horses—were injured, it was an alarming incident in a high-traffic area of Manhattan and was witnessed by many, including the Mets' Matt den Dekker:

Apparently Pumpkin's bridle got caught on another carriage while the carriage horses were in a line at roughly 5:45 p.m. Pumpkin's driver tried to put it back on, but the horse ran away. Another carriage horse driver, Christina Hansen, said, "He ran up to the park, and at that point, it's pretty predictable what's going to happen. He's going to run the route he usually takes."

According to NBC New York, "Pumpkin took off near 59th Street and ran his entire route through Central Park, the equivalent of the Kentucky Derby, according to Hansen. He was slowing down near the zoo off Fifth Avenue when a bicyclist jumped into the driver's seat to try to stop him. It only caused the horse to speed up, slamming the carriage into a cab on Central Park South."

The teamsters issued a statement saying, "What you saw is the industry’s professionalism. We knew where the horse would go, corralled it, and brought it back to the stable." However, NYCLASS, the group opposing carriage horses in the park, countered, "Carriage horses and busy New York City streets simply don't mix. This is just the latest instance that shows how unsafe horse carriages can be. It's time to retire the carriage horses and replace them with something that doesn't spook or dart dangerously through traffic and pedestrians."

And Dan Matthews, SVP of PETA, declared, "This evening’s chaos in Central Park show the serious public safety menace caused by keeping horses in Manhattan, whether on the streets or in the park. This shows the urgency of Mayor de Blasio’s plan to protect people and animals by retiring the horses to sanctuaries."

Mayor de Blasio's public schedule today does not include any Q&A time with the press, but we reached out to the mayor's press office for comment on this latest incident. We'll update if we hear back. Update: Mayoral spokesperson Wiley Norvell said, “We’re considering a range of options that would move the horses off our streets, safeguard the animals and protect the livelihoods of the men and women who provide carriage rides.”