Put Speed Humps Around NYC Parks, Council Member Says

CITY HALL — Hundreds of speed humps would be installed on streets near New York City parks under a new bill introduced in City Council this month.

Brooklyn Councilmember Rita Joseph introduced legislation late last week to mandate speed humps — a smaller version of a now-illegal speed bump — be installed on all roads next to New York City parks that are an acre or bigger.

"Our streets deserve to be safe for all New Yorkers," said Joseph, a Democrat and Public Safety committee member.

"As a city, we have a moral obligation to fight traffic violence, and passing this bill would go a long way towards saving lives."

If passed, the law would likely be a big job for the city's transportation department.

Speed humps are currently a rare occurrence around some of New York City's most popular parks — Union Square, Washington Square Park and Madison Square Park, as examples, do not have speed humps on surrounding roads, according to a city map of current speed hump locations.

It's also unclear whether the legislation would apply to the long, busy thoroughfares that surround large parks like Central and Prospect Park, none of which have speed humps.

A spokesperson from Joseph's office pointed to a caveat in the bill that would allow DOT to forego the speed hump requirement when it would "endanger pedestrians or motorists, or would not be consistent with DOT’s guidelines."

Transportation department officials told Patch they are reviewing the legislation.

"Speed reducers are one of many important design tools to calm traffic," said spokesperson Vin Barone. "We prioritize their placement based on safety data."

Impetus for the legislation perhaps came from Lincoln Terrace/Arthur S. Somers Park — a 17-acre Crown Heights park with no surrounding speed humps — where there have been more than 30 crashes involving a car since 2017, data and a city map show.

In Crown Heights alone, the bill would mean installing speed humps on at least two dozen blocks surrounding the neighborhoods' parks, according to the map.

The speed hump legislation is one of four bills Joseph introduced last week.

The others include a plan to add warming centers in each borough, expand the summer youth employment program and make sure immigrant students benefit from the IDNYC program.