Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
State Legislature

Families for Safe Streets to Albany: Lower NYC’s Speed Limit to 20 MPH Now

Amy Cohen and Gary Eckstein, parents of Sammy Cohen Eckstein, and family and friends of others lost to traffic violence outside the capitol today. Photo: Brad Aaron
Amy Cohen and Gary Eckstein, parents of Sammy Cohen Eckstein, with electeds, supporters, and other members of Families for Safe Streets outside the capitol today. Photo: Brad Aaron
Amy Cohen and Gary Eckstein, parents of Sammy Cohen Eckstein, and family and friends of others lost to traffic violence outside the capitol today. Photo: Brad Aaron

New Yorkers who have lost loved ones to traffic violence are in Albany today to demand that lawmakers pass legislation to lower NYC's default speed limit to 20 miles per hour.

About 150 residents, led by members of Families for Safe Streets, gathered for a press conference outside the capitol this morning amid a day of meetings with state representatives.

"We know that 30 miles per hour is not a safe speed, because people are dying every 33 hours," said Hsi-Pei Liao. His daughter, 3-year-old Allison Liao, was fatally struck by an SUV driver last October as she and her grandmother crossed Main Street in Flushing in a crosswalk with the signal.

Joining Liao's parents were family and friends of Sammy Cohen Eckstein, Asif Rahman, Ariel Russo, Megan Charlop, Carl Nacht, Luis Bravo, Ella Bandes, and others killed by drivers on New York City streets. State lawmakers Martin Malave Dilan, Adriano Espaillat, Brad Hoylman, Linda Rosenthal, and Michael Benedetto attended the presser, along with City Council members Ydanis Rodriguez and David Greenfield.

Bills from Assembly Member Dan O’Donnell and State Senator Dilan would set the maximum legal speed on NYC streets at 20 miles per hour, except on streets "where the City Council determines a different speed limit is appropriate." The bills were introduced in January and February, respectively, after motorists killed seven city pedestrians in the first 11 days of 2014. Among the victims was 9-year-old Cooper Stock, who along with his father was struck by a cab driver in an Upper West Side crosswalk.

Dilan has 11 cosponsors for the Senate bill. No members of the Senate majority -- Republicans and members of the Independent Democratic Conference -- have signed on yet. O'Donnell's bill has 17 cosponsors as of today.

"Let's be clear -- these aren't traffic 'accidents,'" said Hoylman. "These are preventable crashes. There's no reason the good folks in this chamber from Utica should be deciding the speed limit on the Upper West Side of Manhattan."

A pedestrian has only about a 50-50 chance of surviving a collision with a vehicle traveling at NYC's current speed limit of 30 mph. At 20 mph, there is a 95 percent chance the victim will live. Speeding was the leading cause of NYC traffic deaths in 2012, according to DOT. Research cited by the 20's Plenty For Us campaign shows that lower speed limits reduce collisions overall.

DOT's Slow Zone program sets speed limits at 20 mph on neighborhood streets, but current state law allows the city to do so only if other physical traffic-calming treatments are also implemented, or a street is within a quarter-mile of a school. In addition, demand for Slow Zones far exceeds DOT's ability to install them. "The NYC DOT cannot keep up with the flood of block-by-block requests for speed bumps, stop signs and traffic lights in neighborhoods which are trying to cope with the 30 mph speed limit," said an issue explainer from Transportation Alternatives, which organized today's trip.

We'll have more on the 20 mph bills tomorrow.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Candidate Cuomo’s E-Bike Restrictions ‘Demonize’ Those Who Need Them

E-bikes give commuters, parents and delivery workers the ability to get around, but Andrew Cuomo would restrict their use in favor of the car, which the Department of Transportation says is the singular threat on the road.

March 27, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Duffy ‘Whac-A-Mole’ Edition

The MTA goes to great lengths to correct Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's lies. Plus more news.

March 27, 2025

Off the Waterfront: Bronx Part of ‘Harlem River Greenway’ Will Be Bike Lanes on Street

The protected bike lanes look great, but it's a far far cry from the waterfront access Adams promised.

March 26, 2025

CAPITOL DISPATCH: Albany Has No Plan, the Feds are Fuming and Transit Riders Are Facing a True ‘Shithole’ If MTA Cash Isn’t Raised

The halls of the state capitol were filled with dread on Tuesday as neither Gov. Hochul nor legislative leaders have a plan to fill the yawning funding gap in the MTA's renovation and expansion plan — and the federal government is laughing on the sidelines.

March 26, 2025

NJ Still Backing Turnpike Widening Despite Congestion Pricing Success and Local Opposition

Congestion pricing is reducing traffic between New Jersey and New York — but Phil Murphy's $11-billion Turnpike widening would increase it.

March 26, 2025
See all posts