Sammy's Law Supporters Launch Hunger Strike Over NYC Speed Limit Power

NEW YORK CITY — The mother of a Park Slope youth killed in traffic launched a hunger strike Tuesday to save what advocates believe could be a life-saving speed limit law named after her boy.

Sammy's Law must be brought up for a vote, said Amy Cohen as she began a hunger strike in Albany.

The bill would allow New York City to set speed limits down to 20 mph and honors Cohen's son Samuel Eckstein Cohen — who was 12 when a motorist struck him near Prospect Park in 2013.

But Amy Cohen's and advocates' long-held hopes to pass the bill appeared to be dashed at the last moment when state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie made clear he wouldn't put it up for a vote.

"Ignoring, delaying, and excluding Sammy's Law is unconscionable," Amy Cohen said in a statement.

"There must be a vote on this bill before the session ends - and I will remain on hunger strike until Speaker Heastie calls the vote."

The state legislature's session is expected to end this week.

Cohen will be joined in the hunger strike by her Families for Safe Streets colleague, Fabiola Mendieta-Cuapio, who also lost in a child by a driver's hand.

Heastie's decision to pump the brakes on Sammy's Law not only ran counter to many city and state officials' support, but drew fierce condemnation from advocates.

Giving the city the ability to reduce speed limits down to 20 mph will save lives, both of pedestrians and motorists, they argued.

"It feels like a real abdication of responsibility, a failure on their part," said Sara Lind, co-executive director at Open Plans, of Heastie's decision.