SLOW DOWN! NYC begins lowering speed limits under Sammy's Law

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — New York City drivers will need to put their foot on the brake as the city’s Department of Transportation, under traffic legislation Sammy’s Law, begins lowering speed limits on select corridors across the five boroughs.

At a press conference on Wednesday, DOT crews put up a 20-mile-per-hour speed limit sign on Prospect Park West at 3rd Street, where 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein was struck and killed 11 years ago this week.

Sammy’s Law—which grants NYC the authority to reduce speed limits to 20 miles per hour with proper signage and 10 miles per hour on roads undergoing safety-related redesigns—passed in the 2024 legislative session in Albany, and was fiercely advocated for by Sammy’s parents, Amy and Gary, who founded the organization Families for Safe Streets.

“[A] mistake by a driver or someone walking or biking should not be a death sentence,” Gary said at Wednesday’s event. “Life isn't fair. Horrible things happen for no apparent reason. There’s often nothing you can do about it, but here there is something that can be done.”

The first corridor to see lowered speed limits is Prospect Park West, along a 19-block stretch from Grand Army Plaza to Bartel-Pritchard Square. It will soon be followed by a 1.4-mile section of Audubon Avenue in upper Manhattan’s Washington Heights.

By the end of 2025, the city DOT will lower speed limits in 250 locations, prioritizing areas around schools, “open streets,” “shared streets” and new “regional slow zones” in each borough. The first regional slow zone is expected to launch in Manhattan, south of Canal Street on the island, in October.

“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,” DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said.

Sammy’s Law speed regulations on city corridors will be enforced by cameras and patrolling police.