About the whole still-ongoing controversy in NYC's Central Park regarding horse carriages, they have been arguing back and forth about whether to ban the horse carriages after multiple horses have died from overexhaustion and vehicle accidents on busy streets and replace them with replica antique electric cars for tourist rides...
How about scratch BOTH? Horses are not safe on NYC streets and electric Model T Fords are just funny. I wonder if they ever thought about THIS:
Probably too much work for the simple leftist brains of city planners, but I bet many ride-on model train associations all over the US will gladly help if they green light this. A LOT of hobbyists will bring their own 7.5 inch gauge real diesel and steam locomotives and make a living off of this. All it needs is a big circle of track around the park, along with a mini rail yard, shuntings/sidings, switches, and put some canopies on the passenger cars for rainy weather. I don't think ANYBODY will turn down an opportunity to ride a miniature train around the park. The lines would be incredible LOL...