Report: Street safety in NYC still depends on where you live
An analysis by the Center for an Urban Future found that while traffic safety has improved across the five boroughs, progress has been uneven.
A new study suggests that despite years of Vision Zero initiatives, street safety in New York City remains deeply unequal and largely determined by neighborhood income levels.
An analysis by the Center For an Urban Future found that while traffic safety has improved across the five boroughs, progress has been uneven.
John Surico, a senior Fellow for Climate & Opportunity with the organization, says the data shows a clear pattern.
“There’s a tendency to have disproportionate traffic injuries in low‑income communities,” Surico said. “And we’ve seen an uneven landscape of investments — the investments that really work.”
Lower‑income communities of color, including East Flatbush, East New York, and Canarsie, continue to experience some of the highest rates of traffic violence. According to the report, these areas are also less likely to receive street‑safety upgrades, such as:
Roadway redesigns
Protected bike lanes
Daylighting
Neighborhood slow zones
Meanwhile, neighborhoods like Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint have seen far more consistent investment.
Surico says that’s partly due to gaps in advocacy.
“Some neighborhoods get left out of this equation and really could use more of that advocacy,” he said. “They shouldn’t have to ask for these investments.”
The Department of Transportation says it no longer bases slow‑zone installations on community requests — a process that contributed to the disparity. The agency says it plans to prioritize areas facing the greatest harm as it develops the next City Streets Plan.
In places like Brownsville, where deadly crashes have long plagued the Linden Boulevard corridor, new safety improvements are finally underway. But researchers say those changes need to be replicated citywide.
“When the DOT and the city do the work, there really is a noticeable difference,” Surico said. “We’d like to broaden that support to other neighborhoods and see it go elsewhere.”
