Good morning, Chair Abreu and thank you for holding this hearing today. I am representing Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso to provide testimony on the City’s Vision Zero strategy and the legislation being considered today.
Borough President Reynoso welcomes the administration’s renewed commitment to Vision Zero and its recently released Action Plan. Making our streets safer remains an urgent priority, as 153 New Yorkers have died in crashes in this year alone. We must stress that it is drivers of cars who cause the vast majority of crashes: not cyclists, not e-bikers, not scooter riders, not pedestrians. Therefore, to be most effective in addressing street safety, we must focus on protecting the most vulnerable road users (those outside of cars) from those who have the potential to do the most harm (those who are driving).
Last year, our office published the 2025 Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn, which outlines a mix of infrastructure and policy recommendations to improve street safety. These include:
- Fully implement the NYC Streets Plan and Green Wave Plan, including building out a network of protected bike lanes and greenways;
- Expand speed camera enforcement for speeding and red-light violations;
- Implement Sammy’s Law by lowering the speed limit on Brooklyn streets;
- Pilot Low-Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs);
- Expand the use of Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) technology; and
- Daylight all Brooklyn intersections with hardscaped improvements.
Many of the bills being considered today further these goals:
Intro 613 would require the installation of 100 miles of protected bike lanes per year for the next six years. Protected bike lanes have a demonstrable effect on improving street safety. The Federal Highway Administration found that after DOT implemented a road diet on 9th Avenue in Manhattan, including a parking-separated bike lane, injuries for all road users decreased by 58%.
Intro 113 would require a study of dangerous driving practices around the city. This bill will provide helpful data to identify any patterns in driver behavior that may be leading to crashes, and can also identify hotspots where infrastructure investments could improve outcomes.
Intro 1153 implements the “Stop Super Speeders” initiative as designed by the NY State legislature, expanding the use of ISA technology for drivers with a history of speeding violations. Just last year, a young Brooklyn mother and her two daughters were killed on Ocean Parkway by a super speeder with over 93 traffic violations. If that driver had an ISA device installed on her vehicle, three Brooklynites may still be here.
Intro 1070 would establish a low-traffic neighborhood pilot program. The goal of LTNs is to use physical street design to discourage traffic on residential streets while maintaining local access. To achieve this, interventions will need to go beyond the legislation’s required two traffic-calming devices per pilot area. LTNs generally involve some street re-routing to prevent cut-through traffic, as well as a menu of large and small changes from open streets to street trees. BP Reynoso suggests adding more intervention options to the bill language, and a requirement that the five pilots be located in DOT Priority Investment Tier 1 areas, to bring this innovative solution to communities where it is most needed and can have the greatest impact.
Finally, one important bill is missing from today’s agenda: Intro 511, which would require daylighting at NYC intersections. This is a policy that we know saves lives: in the first half of 2026, zero pedestrians were killed at intersections with hardened daylighting. Meanwhile, 31 New Yorkers were killed at intersections without daylighting, and five more were killed at intersections with partial daylighting. The conclusion is clear: we must implement full daylighting across the city to increase visibility, shorten pedestrian crossings, and encourage safer driving speeds.
The administration’s new Vision Zero plan commits to implementing hardened daylighting or other safety improvements at 1,000 intersections annually. However, this vague language allows changes such as new traffic and pedestrian signals to count toward this target without daylighting intersections. We therefore call on the administration to commit to true, hardened, universal daylighting. DOT should also integrate these permanent safety improvements into routine road and sidewalk maintenance, rather than relying exclusively on standalone Vision Zero projects.
Thank you again for holding this hearing. Borough President Reynoso welcomes these commitments and looks forward to working with the Council and the administration to keep New Yorkers safe on our streets.
