Ocean Parkway Is a Haven for Reckless Driving — and Mamdani Can't Fix It

Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway was designed in the late 19th century by Frederick Law Olmsted as a peaceful 5.5-mile promenade from Prospect Park to Coney Island. Today it is a six-lane highway with a dangerous track record. City data shows seven people have been killed and 74 seriously injured in crashes on the road over the last five years. Earlier this month, a 62-year-old Lyft driver died after an Audi A5 rear-ended the Toyota Camry he was driving. In March 2025, a driver made a high-speed turn at a red light at Quentin Road, striking a car that hit a mother and her three young children; the woman and her two daughters were killed, and her son was injured.

Despite the toll, Mayor Zohran Mamdani — whose administration has focused on redesigning dangerous thoroughfares — is legally barred from mandating an overhaul. Like the West Side Highway and the FDR Drive, Ocean Parkway is run by the state, meaning any major changes require state transportation department approval. The state reduced the speed limit from 30 to 25 mph in 2015 and has since added turn restrictions, replaced stop signs with traffic signals, updated pedestrian ramps, and installed countdown signals. A street safety analysis found one Audi A6 alone racked up 70 speed camera tickets on the parkway last year. Residents are pushing for more: locals called for physical barriers separating the walking path from traffic, additional speed cameras, red-light cameras, and noise cameras to finally slow drivers down.