Williamsburg and Greenpoint Asked for 20 MPH Streets Last Year. Since Then, 3,203 Crashes and 10 Deaths, Comptroller Says

By Williamsburg 365 Staff

Community Board 1, which covers Williamsburg and Greenpoint, was the first board in the city to ask for a 20 mph speed limit on all its streets. Now the city Comptroller Mark Levine says more people have been killed in traffic there since that vote than in any other area that asked for the same thing. He wants the Department of Transportation to move faster.

In a letter, Comptroller Mark Levine asked DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn to lower the speed limit in all 17 community districts whose boards have asked for it under Sammy's Law. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso also signed the letter, along with the Manhattan and Queens borough presidents and Council Member Shaun Abreu, who heads the Council's transportation committee.

The board voted 18 to 15 for the lower limit on Feb. 11, 2025, according to the Comptroller. From that vote until June 15, 2026, about 17 months, there were 3,203 crashes and 10 deaths in the district, his numbers show. In all 17 districts together, 14 people were killed after their boards voted. That means 10 of the 14 deaths were in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Most of the other boards only voted this year, so CB1 has been counted for a lot longer.

But even month by month, CB1 is much worse. Using the Comptroller's numbers, Williamsburg and Greenpoint saw about one traffic death every seven to eight weeks after the vote. The 12 other districts that have numbers had 4 deaths in 49.5 months put together, or about one death per district a year. CB1 also had about 3.1 deaths for every 1,000 crashes, while the other districts had about 1.2. So a crash in CB1 was more than twice as likely to kill someone.

Sammy's Law is named after Sammy Cohen-Eckstein, a 12-year-old boy who was killed by a car in 2012. It lets the city lower speed limits on its own, Williamsburg365 reported when the board first voted.

"Today, we join together in calling for a broader, district-wide implementation," the letter says. The officials also asked DOT to start with the districts that have the most deadly crashes.

The Comptroller's office found that the 17 districts had 22,490 crashes, 60 deaths and 11,644 serious injuries in 2025 alone. CB1 is also one of 23 boards that asked the city to remove parking spots at corners, so drivers and people walking can see each other better.

The city has been allowed to make these changes for more than a year, but has done very little. Only about 2 percent of the streets that could be lowered to 20 mph have been, Transportation Alternatives says, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has told DOT to put 15 mph limits on streets right next to schools.

DOT spokesperson Mona Bruno said the agency is looking at the letter. "The Mamdani administration is committed to reducing speed limits within entire neighborhoods or other defined zones throughout the five boroughs," she said. She added that the city has already put in hundreds of 15 mph school zones and wants 800 by the end of the year.

DOT did not say which neighborhoods would get the lower limit first, or when. Under the rules, DOT has to email a community board 60 days before it changes a speed limit.