Ocean Parkway keeps seeing deadly crashes, but only the state can redesign it

Frederick Law Olmsted designed Ocean Parkway as a leafy promenade from Prospect Park to the ocean, with one of the country's first bike paths. Today the 5.5-mile Brooklyn road is a six-lane highway with a reputation for speeding and reckless driving, and the city cannot overhaul it on its own, Gothamist reported Thursday.

Earlier this month, police said, the driver of an Audi rear-ended a Toyota Camry on the parkway, pushing it into another car. The 62-year-old Camry driver, who was working for Lyft, died. City data shows seven people have been killed and 74 seriously injured in crashes on Ocean Parkway over the last five years, according to Gothamist.

The deadliest recent case was two blocks away. In March 2025, police said, a driver in an Audi sped through a red light at Ocean Parkway and Quentin Road in Midwood, hit another car and careened into a mother and her three children in the crosswalk as families walked home from synagogue. The mother and her two daughters, 8 and 5, were killed and her 4-year-old son was critically injured, Gothamist reported at the time. The car had received 21 speed camera tickets since 2023, the outlet said, citing public data.

Why City Hall can't redesign it

Like the FDR Drive and the West Side Highway, Ocean Parkway is technically run by the state, so any major change to its layout has to be overseen by the state Department of Transportation, Gothamist reported. That puts it outside the street redesigns Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration has pushed elsewhere, such as Third Avenue in Sunset Park. A city DOT spokesperson made the same point after the 2025 crash, saying design changes would have to be done in partnership with state officials.

Speed limits are limited too. Sammy's Law, passed in Albany in 2024, lets the city lower limits to 20 mph on individual streets and to 10 mph on some redesigned shared streets. But Gothamist reports the law does not allow a 20 mph limit on main arterial roads like Ocean Parkway, which stays at 25 mph, the limit set in 2015.

What has changed so far

State transportation officials told Gothamist that crews have added left-turn restrictions on the service roads at nine intersections, replaced six stop signs with traffic signals, rebuilt 177 pedestrian ramps, installed 159 countdown pedestrian signals and added high-visibility crosswalks, new markings and signs at 10 intersections. One resident credited the city with reprogramming signals so pedestrians get a few seconds' head start before drivers get a green.

Neighbors want more. Ideas raised to Gothamist include a barrier between the roadway and the walking path, plus more speed, red-light and noise cameras. Transportation Alternatives found one Audi A6 racked up 70 speed camera tickets on the parkway last year, according to Gothamist. In 2025, Families for Safe Streets founder Amy Cohen called for narrowing the road and for state legislation requiring speed limiters on cars whose owners repeatedly break the law.

The darker evenings that start when clocks fall back on Sunday are the most dangerous time of year for pedestrians, city officials say; read about the city's Dusk and Darkness enforcement push.