'Everyone's At Fault': Mamdani and City Council Point Fingers Over Lowering Speed Limits - Streetsblog New York City

"Mayor Mamdani and the City Council are blaming each other for failing to implement a 2024 state law that gave the city the power to lower speed limits - and in doing so are following a pattern of inaction set by their predecessors even as tens of thousands of New Yorkers have been killed and injured by speeding drivers since the law's passage."

"Mayoral spokesperson Sam Raskin repeated the Adams administration's claim that the City Council must pass a law to lower the speed limit citywide, and that the mayor - who vowed on the campaign trail to "fully implement" Sammy's Law - can only reduce the speed limit on select corridors. "DOT is continuing to identify more corridors where safer speeds can save lives," Raskin added. "The administration has been preparing to use Sammy's Law to reduce speed limits at dozens of priority locations across the city.""

"But Menin blamed the new mayor for not acting speedily to slow down drivers. "Under Sammy's Law, the Department of Transportation already has the authority to lower the speed limit in specific locations to 20 miles per hour," Menin's spokesperson Benjamin Fang said in a statement. That said, the statement admitted that a Council bill "to lower the citywide speed limit has not yet been introduced.""

Mayor Mamdani and the City Council are trading blame for not implementing a 2024 state law that granted the city the power to lower speed limits. Both Mamdani and Council Speaker Julie Menin campaigned in favor of reducing the citywide limit to 20 miles per hour. The mayoral office says only the Council can enact a citywide reduction while the mayor can lower limits on selected corridors. The mayor’s administration says DOT is identifying corridors and preparing to use Sammy's Law at priority locations. The Council's spokesperson says DOT already has authority over specific locations, but a citywide bill has not been introduced. The law honors Sammy Cohen Eckstein, a 12-year-old killed in 2013, and tens of thousands of New Yorkers have been killed or injured by speeding drivers since the law's passage.

Read at Streetsblog