NEW YORK — A City Council committee voted Friday to kill “Ryder’s Law,” a bill that would ban the Central Park horse carriages from operating in New York City, casting doubt over the future of the push to abolish the industry and marking the first time the Council has taken a stance on the politically fraught issue.

The bill, introduced by outgoing Queens Councilman Bob Holden, was defeated in the chamber’s Health Committee after only one member, Brooklyn Councilman Simcha Felder, voted in favor of it. Four members voted against it and two abstained, while two others — including Council speaker candidate Julie Menin — didn’t show up to the proceeding.

It’s rare for bills to make it to a Council committee vote when they don’t have enough support to pass. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who’s leaving office at the end of the year due to term limits, has for months refused Holden’s demands to consider his horse carriage ban bill for a hearing or a vote.

But Holden, a conservative Democrat who’s also leaving office at the end of the year, forced Friday’s proceeding by invoking an arcane procedural rule that required the Health Committee to either hold a vote or schedule a hearing on the measure within 30 days.

Holden isn’t a member of the Health Committee. Still, he appeared at the proceeding and tried to get the committee to schedule a full hearing on the bill instead of directly voting on it, but that request was shot down by Health Committee Chairwoman Lynn Schulman, D-Queens.

“I’m going to file an injunction of discrimination,” Holden fumed in response to Schulman’s rejection. He didn’t elaborate on the nature of the alleged discrimination, but said it was “disgusting.”

The effort to banish the horse carriages from Central Park goes back years, with ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio having unsuccessfully tried to do it before leaving office in late 2021.

Animal rights activists have long argued the industry should be banned on the grounds that the horses are being treated inhumanely, pointing to incidents of the animals collapsing in the middle of the street.

But the city’s Transport Workers Union has argued banning the industry would ruin the jobs of hundreds of carriage drivers and say there’s ways to ensure the horses’ safety. TWU members — as well as animal rights activists — showed up in force to Friday’s hearing, with the Council having to set up three overflow rooms in order to accommodate everyone.

While the Holden bill is dead, it’s unlikely to spell the end of the fight over the city’s horse carriage industry.

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who’s being sworn in Jan. 1, has voiced support for banning the industry, though he says he wants to engage in dialogue with the TWU to figure out a compromise on how the drivers can find similar jobs, potentially by getting electric carriages.

A spokeswoman for Mamdani didn’t immediately return a request for comment on Friday’s vote.

The next Council will likely need to introduce a new bill similar to Holden’s and start the process from scratch in order to get a ban enacted.

On the 2021 campaign trail, Mayor Eric Adams was against enacting a ban on horse carriage drivers. But in September, Adams reversed himself and called on the Council to enact a ban. The TWU, led by union head John Samuelsen, has long claimed those pushing for a horse carriage ban are motivated by financial interests.

Earlier this week, Samuelsen’s union filed a lawsuit against NYCLASS, the main animal advocacy group favoring a ban, alleging that the organization had knowingly spread false claims to build support for getting rid of the horse carriage industry. That suit came after the union last month fired off legal threats to a number of other individuals, including Randy Mastro, Adams’ first deputy mayor.

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