TWU Mourns Union Member and Carriage Horse Driver Anthony D'Onofrio, 22

Beloved Central Park Carriage Driver Anthony D’Onofrio spent much of his young life taking care of working horses: feeding them, ensuring they received proper medical care, arranging their annual vacations on farms, and more.

On Thursday, a pair of white carriage horses helped honor Anthony, leading his funeral procession through the streets of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. The stately animals, pulling a white hearse beneath a gray sky, brought the 22-year-old’s coffin from the funeral home to the church where his funeral mass was celebrated.

His father, Giuseppe, also a carriage driver, accompanied Anthony on his last ride, sitting up front with the carriage driver.

D’Onofrio – an active member of Transport Workers Union Local 100 – was killed early Saturday morning. He apparently was picking up some friends from a Bay Ridge restaurant, and was parked outside. A law enforcement source cited in the Daily News said Anthony was warming up his car while cleaning snow off of it when a brawl broke out between exiting patrons. D'Onofrio attempted to defuse the situation and protect his pal before he was stabbed.

Anthony was a mainstay of the historic horse-carriage industry since he was 8 years old, coming to the stable and park with his father. He was remembered as a kind, generous, and funny young man.

“Anthony touched all of so deeply,” carriage driver Ariel Fintzi said. “He was the best. He would make people so happy, taking people on a carriage ride.”

TWU Local 100 President Anthony Utano joined more than 200 mourners, including dozens of carriage drivers, at the funeral. He expressed his condolences to the family and expressed hope the Mayor Adams’ administration will turn the tide against crime in the city.