Speed limit lowered to 20 mph in Brooklyn as Sammy’s Law rollout begins

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) – New York City on Wednesday lowered the speed limit to 20 miles per hour on Prospect Park West in Brooklyn, where 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein was fatally hit by a car 11 years ago. 

It’s the first of many roads to get a lower speed limit thanks to Sammy’s Law, legislation passed in the boy's honor that allows the city to lower its speed limit from 25 to 20 miles per hour.

Audubon Avenue from 165th to 193rd streets also had its speed limit reduced to 20 miles per hour Wednesday. By the end of 2025, the speed limit will be reduced at 250 locations citywide, according to DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez.

In addition to selected streets, each borough will have one Regional Slow Zone, a geographic area with a reduced speed limit. The first Regional Slow Zone in consideration is Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street, which could see its speed limit reduced by the end of 2024, DOT officials said in July. 

Members of Sammy's family joined the DOT Wednesday in Park Slope for the unveiling of the city's first 20 miles per hour sign under the new law.

"His life was tragically cut short right here on Prospect Park West," Rodriguez said. "Sammy's story is one of profound loss but also of hope... The changes we are making today will save lives."

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed off on the bill in April, and in June, the Department of Transportation identified a list of streets first in line for the reduction. 

"This initiative is not just about numbers or policy, it is about protecting lives. Slower speed saves lives," Rodriguez said.

Speed played a major role in the crash that killed Sammy, according to his father, Gary Eckstein.

"People make mistakes, and we need to design our streets and set up the rules of the road so there is some margin for error," Eckstein said. "One of the most effective ways to do that is to slow down traffic."

Sammy's crash echoes larger trends in New York City, where 25% of fatal crashes were caused by excessive speed in 2024, according to Philip Rivera, chief of transportation for the NYPD. The majority of those fatalities occurred on city streets, not highways, Rivera said.

Sammy's father on Wednesday remembered him as a generous, curious young boy taken too soon.

"He was an amazing person with such promise," Eckstein said. "Sammy was a great kid, he was smart and sensitive, articulate and probing, interested in the world and making it a better place."