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Advocates go on hunger strike as NYC speed limit bill stalls in Albany
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jun 6, 2023
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Jon Campbell/Gothamist
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jun 6, 2023
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Four advocates outraged over a stalled bill that would allow New York City to set its speed limits began a hunger strike on Tuesday, saying the legislation would save lives.
The bill, which would let the city make the speed limit as low as 20 miles per hour in some areas without Albany approval, is being held up in the state Assembly. The legislation is known as Sammy’s Law – named after Sammy Cohen Eckstein, a 12-year-old who was killed by a speeding driver on Prospect Park West in Brooklyn in 2013.
“Our leaders need to demonstrate courage so that families like mine, like Sammy, do not have to suffer anymore. It is unconscionable not to bring this bill for a vote,” said Sammy’s mother, Amy Cohen.
Cohen, a co-founder of the advocacy group Families for Safe Streets, was among those on hunger strike. She said she would forgo food to demand that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie “bring this no-nonsense, proven life-saving measure to a vote.”
The bill has the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul and is expected to pass the state Senate.
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal said some colleagues, including co-sponsors of the bill, grumble behind closed doors that it will create a new way to ticket drivers and raise money for the city.
“This is not about tickets,” Rosenthal said at a press conference in Albany on Tuesday. “This is simply about saving lives by letting the city decide where it's appropriate to lower speed limits. For those who don't want to be caught and pay a ticket, don't speed.”
This is the second time the bill has stalled in the Assembly. It also languished in the chamber in 2021, never coming up for a vote.
Fifteen cyclists and 38 pedestrians have died on city streets this year, according to the Department of Transportation's tally of "traffic fatalities." The legislative session is expected to end this week.
The hunger strikers gathered at the entrance to the Assembly chamber, near a desk where lawmakers swipe cards signaling they’re in attendance and ready to vote.
Cohen was working the room, approaching arriving assemblymembers with a yellow slip of paper to co-sponsor the bill.
“If any other thing was killing this many children in New York City, we would call it a crisis. It would be on the front page of our tabloids, but because these children, these New Yorkers are being killed by cars, we simply ascribe it to the cost of doing business,” Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani said. “This is blood on our hands, and I say that because we know that lower speed limits will save lives.”
Mike Whyland, a spokesperson for Heastie, wouldn’t discuss why the bill hasn’t come up for a vote.
“We have been discussing this with our NYC members," he said.
Jon Campbell contributed reporting
Tagged
new york city
transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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