Mayor Bill de Blasio pens 11 pieces of traffic legislation into law near a busy intersection in Woodside earlier this week.
Photo courtesy NYC Mayor’s Office
Mayor Bill de Blasio gave a huge boost to his Vision Zero initiative Monday, signing 11 bills to make city streets safer.
De Blasio sat near the same Woodside intersection where 8-year-old Noshat Nahian was killed in December, showing that change was made to prevent any more loss of life there. The new package of legislation included reforms to major agencies, including the Department of Transportation and Taxi and Limousine Commission.
“We have promised the people of this city that we will use every tool we have to make streets safer,” de Blasio said. “Today is another step on our path to fulfilling that promise, and sparing more families the pain of losing a son, a daughter, or a parent in a senseless tragedy.”
Standing beside the mayor were members of the DOT and City Council, all of whom have been working together for months in mulling over the Vision Zero mindset, which set out to reduce traffic-related deaths in New York City to zero over 10 years. De Blasio said one of the most noteworthy reforms to come out of the 11 bills signed Monday included lowering the city’s default speed limit from 30 to 25 miles per hour.
De Blasio picked the intersection in Woodside because it was the same site where Nahian was hit and killed at 61st Street and Northern Boulevard in while he was walking with his sister to PS 152. That intersection has since been transformed with two new pedestrian islands, new crosswalks and parking regulation changes.
“There is much more work ahead, both here in the five boroughs and up in Albany,” he said. “But today, we thank the families, advocates, and City Council members who have taken up this cause and helped us better protect our fellow New Yorkers,”
The legislation also included requirements for the city DOT to repair traffic signals within one day of being notified and install seven Neighborhood Slow Zones this year and next year while lowering speeds to 15-20 miles per hour near 50 schools each year.
City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) was only one of several Queens lawmakers to sponsor parts of the legislation package, including one that required the city to fix broken traffic signals within a day of them being reported.
“Vision Zero means making our roadways safe not just for those who walk, ride and drive on them, but for those who work on them, as well,” Lancman said.
By Phil Corso
