New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony in New York City, U.S., January 1, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
(New York, New York) – New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced Monday that the city will dramatically expand 15-mile-per-hour “School Slow Zones” across all five boroughs, part of what officials are calling the largest implementation yet of Sammy’s Law, a measure allowing the city to lower speed limits in targeted areas.
Under the plan, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) will reduce the speed limit to 15 MPH at more than 800 additional school locations in 2026, bringing the total number of schools with the reduced speed limit to nearly 1,300 by the end of the year.
The administration says the goal is for every eligible public, private, parochial, and charter K-12 school in New York City to have a 15 MPH slow zone by the end of Mamdani’s first term, covering roughly 2,300 school locations that house about 3,200 schools citywide.
Mayor Mamdani made the announcement at Flushing International High School in Queens, which shares a campus with J.H.S. 189 Daniel Carter Beard. The school’s slow zone on 147th Street between Barclay Avenue and Sanford Avenue will now carry the new 15 MPH speed limit.
“Lower speeds save lives,” Mamdani said in a statement. “Families spoke up after unimaginable loss to fight for Sammy’s Law and deliver our city the power to make our streets safer. We will use every tool at our disposal to protect our neighbors as they move about our city.”
DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said the change is rooted in the city’s Vision Zero safety strategy, noting that speed is a leading factor in traffic fatalities.
“Even a small speed reduction can mean the difference between life and death in a crash,” Flynn said.
How the Expansion Will Work
City officials say the rollout will include two major steps this year:
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About 700 existing school slow zones will be lowered from 20 MPH to 15 MPH.
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Roughly 100 new school zones will be created where current speed limits are 25 MPH.
Locations will be prioritized using crash data and other safety indicators. According to city data, a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling 25 MPH is more than three times as likely to be seriously injured as someone struck at 15 MPH.
Before new limits take effect, DOT will provide 60-day notice and a comment period for the local community board in each affected area.
The city also plans to combine the slower speed limits with additional street safety improvements near schools, including speed humps, hardened intersections, and visibility upgrades designed to naturally slow drivers.
Background on Sammy’s Law
Sammy’s Law was passed in 2024, granting New York City the authority to set lower speed limits without needing state approval.
The law is named after Sammy Cohen Eckstein, a 12-year-old who was killed by a speeding driver in Brooklyn in 2013. His mother, Amy Cohen, founded the advocacy group Families for Safe Streets and has pushed for stronger traffic safety measures for more than a decade.
“Sammy’s Law will save lives wherever it is implemented,” Cohen said. “Today would not have happened without every family and advocate who fought for safer streets.”
Since the law’s passage, the city has lowered speed limits at just over 100 locations, including regional slow zones in each borough. The school-zone expansion announced Monday marks the largest use of the law so far.
Advocates and local officials say the move could significantly reduce injuries and fatalities around schools where students, parents, and staff are frequently crossing busy streets during peak hours.
City officials say additional slow-speed zones in other neighborhoods may be announced in the coming months as the administration explores broader applications of Sammy’s Law.
