Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says two issues prevented the passage of a long-sought bill to let New York City set its own speed limits: e-bikes and speed bumps.
The bill, known as “Sammy’s Law,” was the subject of aggressive lobbying – and even a hunger strike – by street safety advocates during this month’s legislative session. It is named after 12–year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein, who was killed by a speeding driver in Brooklyn in 2013.
The legislation would give city lawmakers “home rule” to lower the speed limit on most streets from 25 to 20 miles per hour.
In an exclusive interview with Gothamist on Wednesday, Heastie explained why he did not introduce the bill for a vote, outraging its supporters. Some assemblymembers representing parts of the city didn’t want the bill to pass because they were concerned about other traffic policies, Heastie said.
“They’d like to see more enforcement, not only of reckless drivers, but also of the e-bikes. That got raised in the conference,” Heastie said. “Some members are saying they’d like more coordination when they make requests for speed bumps and other traffic mitigation. They just would like to be more involved and included in discussions that (the Department of Transportation) is doing in their districts.”
Speed bumps are determined by the city’s Department of Transportation. E-bikes have exploded in popularity on city streets in recent years. Neither are directly related to Sammy’s Law.
This year marked the second time that Sammy’s Law was passed in the state Senate, but didn’t come up for a vote in the Assembly. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams also supported the bill.
The bill had 60 co-sponsors in the Assembly, including 36 from New York City. But Heastie said not enough members from the five boroughs were willing to back the bill. He estimated that about a dozen members didn’t support it and wanted to have a broader conversation about street safety — namely e-bikes and speed…
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