Friday’s Headlines: Sammy’s Law Edition

Community boards representing more than 1.7 million people across neighborhoods most afflicted by traffic violence have voted to ask the Department of Transportation to slow down drivers.

Two boards — Manhattan CB8 and Brooklyn CB2 — joined the cavalcade on Wednesday night, passing resolutions asking the Mamdani administration to reduce the speed limit from 25 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour, a power granted to the city by the state under the so-called “Sammy’s Law” in 2024. Thus far, DOT has used the power for just a single neighborhood-wide slow zone, in the southernmost end of Manhattan, where it was almost impossible to get to 25 miles per hour anyway.

Here’s an updated map of the areas of the city where community boards are asking for safety over speed:

Of those neighborhoods, the closest vote came on the Upper East Side, where CB8 members voted 23-15 (with five abstentions) in favor of a slow zone. The vote came after a surprisingly heated debate as street safety advocates pointed out repeatedly that people who are struck by drivers at 20 miles per hour have a 90-percent chance of surviving, but people who are struck at 30 miles per hour have a 60-percent chance of surviving, which drops to only a 20-percent chance of surviving at 40 miles per hour.

Street safety advocate and board member Paul Krikler passionately testified that implementation of Sammy’s Law is a no-brainer.

“I have seen very few items come before the board where you can actually make a very simple decision that can have a dramatic impact on number of people in our community who don’t die or don’t get maimed or have their lives altered dramatically,” he said of the five-mile-per-hour speed limit reduction. “This, in my opinion, is one of those moments. So, please, please join in voting yes.”

None of the board members who voted “no” votes, none of the board members spoke against the resolution with any objections worthy of the erudition for which Upper East Siders pride themselves. Board member Edward Hartzog yelled for three-and-a-half minutes about truck drivers making dangerous turns (true!) and that humans commit errors (true!) and that Queens Boulevard is just as dangerous as ever, despite all the safety interventions (false!) before saying that he opposes “a constant push to decrease speed limits without putting the onus on pedestrians” to wear lights and special clothing to avoid being struck.

Area resident Andrew Fine gave a rare performance. After listening to members of Families for Safe Streets — who are not paid and only become members of the group after someone close to them has been killed or maimed — Fine, a member of the pro-car E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, blamed pedestrians and cyclists for their own injuries.

Fine’s simple solution for reducing road deaths? “Get a grip. Wear a helmet,” he actually said.

It is unclear why Fine’s organization supports lower speed limits for electric bikes, but not for cars.

In other news:

• You love him in his new “Old Man Vertical” series and his old horizontal “Criminal Mischief” series (we’re in Season 5!), but now you can catch Streetsblog Editor Gersh Kuntzman on stage on Thursday, May 28, as part of the “Not In My Backyard” comedy roundtable show at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater on E. 14th Street. Details and cheap tickets are here.
• In other Streetsblog news, we’re proud of reporter Sophia Lebowitz, whose series on Instacart and other delivery companies just won the Certificate of Merit (ostensibly the silver medal) from the Silurians Press Club. And we’re also proud of former reporter Jesse Coburn, whose series, “The Moped King,” won the gold medal for investigative reporting. All the winners are listed here. Streetsblog will be on hand at the June 17 dinner to toast our winners (and heckle the New York Times’s two tables).
• Mayor Mamdani’s budget found a little more cash for the Department of Consumer and Workforce Protection — but still less than what the city spend on the agency last year. (DocumentedNY)
• The city recovered $9 million in unpaid idling fines from Amazon. (amNY, Brooklyn Eagle)
• A proposal to ban cars from the center of Berlin has emerged as a hot button issue in the German capital’s upcoming municipal elections. (NY Times)
• You can get a $254 block party permit and have a wedding in the street. (Grand Army Gazette)
• The DSA activist primarying car-first Rep. Adriano Espaillat went on a bike ride with Miser. (r/MicomobilityNYC)
• The Times wants to hear from delivery workers in English, French and Bengali.
• A Manhattan parking garage evicted nine federal vehicles amid concerns they were being used by ICE. (Gothamist)
• Will Albany get its act together to let the city put parking enforcement cameras on DSNY street sweepers? (NYCSanitation via X)
• NYPD will spend beaucoup bucks on overtime during the World Cup. (Politico)
• Kathy Wylde is back mediating the mayor’s relationship with the city’s plutocrats. (NY Post)
• Add Hampton Jitney to the coalition of bus companies challenging the city’s citizen idling enforcement program. (Dan’s Papers)
• Plan ahead for the weekend’s subway service changes. (PIX11)
• And, finally, as we mentioned yesterday, the DOT and Bike New York gave away more bikes to kids and adults in need on Staten Island. So far this year, the partnership has donated 240 bikes, which is how you start a movement. Here’s a shot of two people picking out their wheels: