Sammy’s Law bill to let NYC set speed limit falters, but supporters hoping special Assembly session will finally push it through

New York state lawmakers finished up this year’s legislative session a week ago without approving a bill that would allow New York City to set and lower its speed limit, dealing a blow to street safety advocates.

But a special two-day legislative session in Albany set to start Tuesday has raised hope in the city that the bill, called Sammy’s Law, may yet make it to Gov. Hochul’s desk.

The legislation, which is supported by Hochul and Mayor Adams, passed the state Senate this month but ran aground in the Assembly, felled by outerborough opposition. Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, declined to bring the bill to a vote.

Activists launched a 99-hour hunger strike through the end of the session, and advocates pushed Assembly members in person and on social media.

But it was not enough to lift the bill, which is named in honor of Sammy Cohen Eckstein, a 12-year-old boy who was killed by a van as he chased a soccer ball onto Prospect Park West in Park Slope, Brooklyn, a decade ago.

Amy Cohen, Sammy’s mom and a fierce advocate for the bill, said that she thought it was “unconscionable” that the measure had not passed. But she added that she remained hopeful about the special session.

“This is going to be the year,” Cohen said. “We are fighting until the end.”

It was unclear if Sammy’s Law was on the agenda for the upcoming session. Heastie’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

On June 6, the legislation passed the state Senate by a bipartisan 55-to-7 vote.

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, the bill’s sponsor in her chamber, said the legislation may now have sufficient votes to get through the 150-seat Assembly.

“There are things we have to go back for, and to me, this is one of them,” said Rosenthal, an Upper West Side Democrat.

Hochul has expressed eagerness to sign the legislation, which would allow the city to set speed limits as low as 10 mph on some streets, and as low as 20 mph citywide.

“I don’t think that the city should have to come to the State of New York and take the time of the Legislature to see whether they can let them reduce their speed limits,” Hochul told reporters in Brooklyn last month. “This is something I believe should be the prerogative of local government.”

Adams said in a statement that “traffic safety is public safety,” and pledged to “continue to advocate for this important bill.”

But not every state lawmaker from the city has gotten behind the legislation, with outerborough Assembly members of both parties apparently concerned that the measure would be disruptive for their car-driving constituents.

It was not clear how much Republican support the legislation has in the Assembly. In an interview Friday, Minority Leader Will Barclay said he did not yet have a position on the bill.

“Some of our city members have expressed some concerns about it,” said Barclay, an Oswego Republican. “I can’t really opine on it too much. I just don’t know.”

Overall, a majority of the Assembly members from New York City appear to back the bill, Rosenthal said last week.

She said she was working to dispel some “myths” about the legislation. “The impact of lowering the speed limit will not have such a drastic effect as some people might have been led to believe,” she said.

Assemblyman Robert Carroll, a Park Slope Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, suggested that tweaks to the legislation could get it over the hump.

“If it doesn’t happen in the next two weeks, I hope it happens sometime shortly,” Carroll said.

To supporters, the measure had appeared tantalizingly close to passage in recent weeks. The City Council, at Adams’ urging, passed a so-called home rule message last month in support of the legislation.

Councilwoman Jennifer Gutiérrez, a Williamsburg Democrat and outspoken supporter of the bill, said she thought the stars were aligning in recent weeks. But, she said, she wound up “severely” disappointed.

“I’m trying not to sound defeated,” she said last week. “We’ll keep pushing, but it sucks, man.”

If the state legislation is amended in the Assembly, it could require a new home rule message from the Council.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Greenwich Village Democrat and the lead sponsor of Sammy’s Law in the Senate, said last week that he believed support for the bill was still growing among state lawmakers.

“It’s common sense to allow New York City to set its own speed limits,” he said. “I’m concerned about the message it sends to families of victims, as well as to people who flout our traffic laws, if we don’t pass Sammy’s Law.”