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New York City unveils 10-year street safety overhaul, with more slow zones and ghost plate crackdown

"Bikes and pedestrians should take precedence in this city over vehicles."

A yellow school bus with a stop sign extended on a city street.

Photo Credit: iStock

New York City officials are laying out a new street-safety agenda to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries as cars, bicycles, electric bikes, scooters, and pedestrians increasingly share the same streets.

Here's what to know

As local news outlet ABC7 shared in a video report, the initiative's focus stretches from physical street changes to stricter policing.

@abc7ny

New York City is taking a new approach to street safety. Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled "Vision Zero Reimagined," a 10-year plan with more than 100 policy commitments aimed at reducing traffic deaths and serious injuries across the city. The plan includes lower speed limits near more schools, safety upgrades at 1,000 intersections each year, expanded pedestrian-only areas and efforts to crack down on repeat speeders and vehicles with "ghost plates."

♬ original sound - ABC7NY

Called "Vision Zero Reimagined," the proposal was introduced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a Sept. 15 launch event as a 10-year roadmap with around 100 policy commitments focused on street safety. 

The plan includes lower speed limits near additional schools, yearly safety upgrades at 1,000 intersections, more pedestrian-only spaces, and stronger enforcement against repeat speeders and cars with "ghost plates," or plates that are obscured or altered to evade enforcement.

ABC7 reported that the plan builds on the city's earlier Vision Zero framework under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, but it arrives as the streets have become more complicated, with vehicles, e-bikes, and scooters moving alongside pedestrians.

The news outlet also cited statistics from advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, whose executive director Ben Furnas attended the mid-September announcement. The group says 99 people, including cyclists, were killed in traffic collisions in the first half of 2026.

Crash victims' relatives joined Mamdani for the announcement, among them the Lao family, whose 3-year-old daughter Alison Lao was killed by a distracted driver in 2013.

"Only action can honor their legacies," Mamdani declared at the event. "And only action can ensure that no more of our neighbors are taken from us."

Some drivers may have concerns that additional restrictions could worsen congestion, but at least one motorist who spoke with ABC7 backed the intent of the new plan.

"Bikes and pedestrians should take precedence in this city over vehicles," the driver said.

Where can I learn more?

Officials across New York City and beyond are trying to make streets safer with new rules, technology, and infrastructure:

• New York City has expanded parking daylighting rules to improve visibility at intersections.

• The city also moved ahead with congestion pricing tolls to cut traffic and gridlock.

• Across multiple major cities, protected bike lanes are reducing deaths for cyclists and drivers.

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