NYC to begin lowering speed limits on city streets under Sammy’s law

New York City is set to start lowering speed limits on select streets Wednesday, i n accordance with Sammy’s law.

Named after 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein, who was killed by a driver near his Brooklyn home in 2013 after he chased a soccer ball into the street — the law allows the city to lower the base speed limit to 20 mph and lets the Transportation Department set lower limits on individual streets — as low as 10 mph, depending on the street design.

“A driver’s speed can mean the difference between life and death in a traffic crash, so the speed limit reductions we are making will help protect everyone who shares our busy streets,” Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement. “I want to thank Amy Cohen Eckstein and Sammy’s entire family for their tireless advocacy to give New York City the legal authority we needed to reduce speed limits.”

In a symbolic move, DOT officials are expected Wednesday to make the 19-block stretch of Prospect Park West — the street on which Sammy was killed — the first 20 mph zone.

This month, city officials will also lower the speed limit to 20 mph along the length of Audubon Ave. in Washington Heights . Manhattan will also see the creation of a so-called “regional slow zone” with the institution of a 20 mph limit on surface streets south of Canal St. in lower Manhattan.

DOT officials said they plan to institute a regional slow zone in each borough, and will reduce the speed limit along 60 additional routes by the end of the year.

Included in that will be 15 mph limits at 47 school zones throughout the city, and 10 mph limits on “open” or “shared” streets that have been redesigned to better prioritize foot and bicycle traffic.