New York City councilmembers are pushing legislation that would mandate minor street changes in five neighborhoods across the five boroughs, requiring the city's transportation department to install at least two different types of traffic-calming devices, such as speed humps, medians, or barriers at intersections, in an effort to discourage drivers from cutting through residential blocks.
Council Member Shaun Abreu, chair of the New York City Council’s transportation committee, is expected to introduce the bill, according to Gothamist. The proposal would create what Abreu and colleagues call low-traffic neighborhoods, redirecting through-traffic while maintaining access for people who live in or need to reach the area.
As described in the report, the plan would not bar private cars, delivery vehicles, emergency responders or sanitation trucks from neighborhood streets. Instead, street changes would be intended to prevent drivers from crossing neighborhood boundaries as a shortcut, while preserving local access.
A London-Inspired Blueprint
Abreu has said conversations with lawmakers in London, where low-traffic neighborhoods are an established policy, helped shape the proposal, Gothamist reported. The proposed measures would use traffic-calming devices to slow or redirect drivers rather than prohibit cars from the affected blocks outright.
Abreu argued that safer streets are possible amid a rash of fatal hit-and-run crashes, according to the outlet. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal has voiced support, and community board members have called for similar changes in Upper Manhattan, Gothamist reported.
How It Fits With the Mayor's Vision Zero Plan
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has pushed to revive street redesign projects shelved under his predecessor. Earlier this month, he released a 20-year Vision Zero road-safety plan that included promises to establish pedestrian-only and pedestrian-priority districts. The proposal from Abreu would add a more specific mandate for the transportation department, according to the report.
Hoylman-Sigal, the Manhattan borough president, said he supports starting with pilot projects to assess how low-traffic designs work in New York City, Gothamist reported. He expects other community boards may seek similar changes if pilots show positive results.
The article also points to European cities, which have seen a reduction in traffic deaths after discouraging traffic on residential streets, as part of the broader case for the approach. Federal transportation officials have separately compiled research on the subject: the Federal Highway Administration describes its traffic calming ePrimer as a review of current traffic-calming practice meant to help readers understand the field. New York State's own open data describes a related but distinct effort, the Arterial Slow Zone program, which combines lower speed limits, signal timing changes, distinctive signage and increased enforcement, according to New York State's open data portal.
A Previous Slow-Zone Law
A 2014 law required the transportation commissioner to establish at least seven neighborhood slow zones, each containing at least five blocks, annually in 2014 and 2015, according to New York City Council legislative records. Those records establish the earlier program’s requirements, but do not show how many zones were ultimately created or what results they produced. The current proposal is distinct: as reported, it would cover five neighborhoods and require at least two types of traffic-calming devices in each.
The bill's specific list of affected neighborhoods, its full legislative text, and the precise design changes it would mandate have not been detailed beyond the general framework reported so far. Gothamist's reporting on the proposal was written by Stephen Nessen.
