NEW YORK — There are renewed calls to get hansom cabs off city streets following an incident Thursday where a horse was startled and hurt in Midtown.

NY1 has learned it was the carriage horse's first day on the job in Central Park.

According to a group that represents the horse carriage industry, "Chief" was heading back to the stables when he was startled, ran into a parked car and fell down at the intersection of West 55th Street and Eighth Avenue. 

The NYPD says the horse suffered cuts to the mid-section, head and front leg.

Animal advocates say the incident was traumatizing for the horse.

“I was a little bit scared because it looked like the horse could almost come crashing through the window of the shop and I was like, 'Oh my God.' I never realized how big and powerful the horses were seeing it do all that damage and stuff is crazy," said Michaela Pecot, a witness.

“We received eyewitness footage of a horrific, bloody, traumatizing crash - a carriage horse was out of control crashed into a car which happens over and over again in New York City because we put these animals that spook easily into midtown traffic," said NYCLASS Executive Director Edina Birnkrant.

A representative for Historic Horse-Drawn Carriages of Central Park released a statement saying, “NYC’s beloved carriage horses spend 95 percent of their working time in car-free Central Park, and during their commute to and from the park each day they are the safest form of transportation on midtown Manhattan’s streets. The last incident resulting in an injury to a carriage horse during their commute occurred nearly a decade ago, in 2012.”

Meanwhile, the Committee for Compassionate and Responsible Tourism also released a statement saying this is another example of why carriage horses do not belong on New York City streets.