77th Street is not a highway ramp

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

Summary

Two blocks of families in Bay Ridge

We are the families on 77th Street between 5th and 7th Avenues. Drivers speed down our two blocks and trucks cut through them, on the way to the Verrazzano.¹ We want the City to stop the shortcut and make these blocks safer for the people who live here.

The street	One lane, 30 feet wide, 25 mph limit.²
Children	At least 20, and a daycare on the block.¹
Speed	27 mph in a DOT study.³
Speed humps	5 DOT studies since 2016, all Not Feasible.⁴
Trucks	9 complaints since 2022, 1 summons.⁵
All complaints	77 since 2010, 6 summonses.⁵
Crashes	28 since March 2021, 9 people hurt, none killed.⁶

77th Street after rain: brick row houses with stoops and planters, a full canopy of street trees, and cars parked along the curb. — Saturday 7 June 2025, 7:02 pm. Our row houses and street trees.⁷

At least 20 children live on these two blocks.¹ They draw on the sidewalk and kick a ball in the street. Little Sprouts Bay Ridge Day Care operates on our block.¹ Six more schools and child care programs are within a quarter mile, and the nearest, P.S. 127, is about 700 feet away.⁸

A block party on 77th Street after rain, with the cars gone: tables and chairs in the roadbed, neighbors under umbrellas and tents, and children playing. — Saturday 9 September 2023, 5:42 pm. Our block party, with the cars out.⁷

Nine children sit in a group on the sidewalk, drawing with chalk beside a parked car. — Our kids drawing on the sidewalk.¹

Neighbors stand on the sidewalk in spring while young children run past a parked car and older kids look on. — Friday 18 April 2025, 5:21 pm. Neighbors out on the sidewalk.⁷

Seen from a front window: children run along the sidewalk between parked cars and a stoop, while an adult watches from the steps. — Tuesday 22 April 2025, 5:23 pm. Children run along the sidewalk, seen from a front window.⁷

Shortcut

The route to the Verrazzano

An aerial photo of southwest Brooklyn with 77th Street circled at the center, and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the southwest.

Phone navigation screenshot at 8:05 in the morning. The route turns from 5th Avenue onto 77th Street and follows it to the service road beside I-278. A second route, marked similar ETA, runs along 79th Street, up 6th Avenue and onto the same block of 77th Street.

Map of numbered streets between 5th and 7th Avenues with one-way arrows.

The same map with 77th Street marked, running one way from 5th Avenue through to 7th Avenue.

The same map with Bay Ridge Parkway marked, two blocks north of 77th Street.

We live on two blocks in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, close to the approach to the Verrazzano.⁹

8:05 in the morning

This navigation app routes a driver to the Verrazzano down 77th Street.¹ The alternative has a similar arrival time and uses our block too.

The one-way directions explain why drivers end up here: most of these streets don't connect 5th Avenue to the highway.

Between Bay Ridge Parkway and 80th Street, only ours runs one way from 5th through to 7th.²

Bay Ridge Parkway, two blocks north, is 50 feet wide and runs both ways.² Ours is 30 feet with one lane.

Evidence

What we see on our block

Trucks

The sign on our block reads "No trucks except local deliveries,"⁷ and 77th Street is not on the City's truck route map.¹⁰ 311 logged 9 truck route complaints from December 2022 to May 2025, and police issued 1 summons.⁵

A box truck in the lane with parked cars on both sides, seen from a car behind it at dusk. A sign on the right shows a crossed-out truck and reads Except Local Deliveries. — The sign on our block, with a truck ahead of it. Undated.⁷

A long box truck with food advertising on its side, on 77th Street, seen past a fire hydrant, with a traffic signal beyond it. — Monday 14 August 2023, 6:14 pm. A long box truck on the block.⁷

A white box truck drives toward the camera down the middle of 77th Street, between parked cars, under autumn trees. — Saturday 11 November 2023, 12:00 pm. It drew a 311 complaint 3 minutes later.^5,7

Two box trucks in line on 77th Street on a bright winter morning, seen over the roof of a parked car, with more vehicles ahead. — Friday 16 February 2024, 9:38 am. It drew a 311 complaint 4 minutes later.^5,7

A refrigerated box truck comes up 77th Street toward the camera, past a parked red SUV, on a rainy spring morning. — Monday 7 April 2025, 7:38 am. A refrigerated truck comes up the block.⁷

The back of a white box truck filling the lane on 77th Street, close to a parked car on its left and a line of parked cars on its right. — Saturday 10 May 2025, 7:51 am. It drew a 311 complaint 7 minutes later.^5,7

The front wheel and mirror of a white truck pass close beside a parked black SUV on 77th Street. — Monday 12 May 2025, 3:56 pm. A truck squeezes past a parked car.⁷

The same white truck from behind, in the lane on 77th Street near 6th Avenue, with a yellow school bus at the corner ahead. — Three seconds later, the truck heads for 6th Avenue, with a school bus at the corner ahead.⁷

A large box truck fills 77th Street behind a row of parked cars, seen from a front window. Chalk drawings cover the sidewalk in the foreground. — A truck passes our children's chalk.¹

The back of a white box truck filling the lane on 77th Street between parked cars, its brake lights on, seen from a car behind it. — Tuesday 27 June 2023. Times come from the photos and the 311 record.^5,7

Every truck complaint, with what police said

Filed	Closed after	NYPD's stated result
8 December 2022, 10:04 pm	2 min	Police action not necessary
11 January 2023, 12:38 pm	1 hr 13 min	No evidence of the violation
27 June 2023, 12:51 pm	9 min	Gone when police arrived
27 June 2023, 12:53 pm	8 min	Gone when police arrived
11 November 2023, 12:03 pm	1 hr 48 min	No evidence of the violation
16 February 2024, 9:42 am	1 hr 20 min	Gone when police arrived
29 April 2025, 8:59 pm	6 hr 1 min	Summons issued
4 May 2025, 6:18 pm	46 min	No evidence of the violation
10 May 2025, 7:58 am	1 hr 27 min	Gone when police arrived

Complaints

Since 2010, 311 has logged 77 complaints about driving and vehicles blocking these two blocks.⁵ Police issued 6 summonses, and in 21 cases those responsible were gone when police arrived. Cars blocking hydrants and driveways account for another 356 complaints and 120 summonses.

Every 311 complaint about driving or blocking on the two blocks since 2010, from all callers.⁵
Complaint	Filed	Summons	Gone on arrival
Double parked, blocking a vehicle	18	0	11
Vehicle blocking the sidewalk	16	1	3
Double parked, blocking traffic	13	2	1
Truck route violation	9	1	4
Taxi or for-hire driver	7	0	0
Vehicle blocking the crosswalk	5	1	1
Engine idling	5	1	1
Car or truck horn	3	0	0
Congestion or gridlock	1	0	0

Crashes

Police recorded 28 crashes on these two blocks and at their corners from March 2021 to November 2026.⁶ Nine people were hurt, including 3 pedestrians and 3 cyclists. There have been no recorded deaths.

Someone hurtNobody hurtTraffic runs left to right

5th Ave6th Ave7th Ave

All 28 crashes placed along 77th Street, from police coordinates.⁶

Every crash, with what police listed

When	Where	Hurt	Vehicles and listed cause
4 March 2021, 4:41 am	Mid-block, 5th to 6th	Nobody	SUV and SUV. None listed.
13 March 2021, 9:20 am	Mid-block, 5th to 6th	Nobody	Sedan and Sedan. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
29 July 2021, 6:18 pm	At 7th Avenue	Nobody	SUV. None listed.
21 January 2022, 12:47 am	At 5th Avenue	Cyclist	Bike and SUV. Passing or Lane Usage Improper.
17 March 2022, 8:35 am	At 7th Avenue	Nobody	Sedan. None listed.
5 April 2022, 8:00 pm	Mid-block, 6th to 7th	Nobody	Sedan. None listed.
10 November 2022, 12:34 pm	At 5th Avenue	Nobody	SUV and Box Truck. Passing Too Closely.
30 December 2022, 11:35 pm	At 7th Avenue	Nobody	Pick-up Truck and SUV. Alcohol Involvement.
9 April 2023, 11:21 am	At 6th Avenue	Cyclist	Sedan and E-Bike. Failure to Yield Right-of-Way.
18 April 2023, 2:40 pm	At 7th Avenue	Nobody	SUV and Tractor truck. Turning Improperly.
26 April 2023, 12:07 pm	At 6th Avenue	Nobody	Sedan and Sedan. Backing Unsafely.
13 May 2023, 12:00 am	At 5th Avenue	Nobody	SUV and SUV. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
18 June 2023, 2:05 pm	At 6th Avenue	Nobody	SUV and Sedan. Following Too Closely.
25 August 2023, 1:50 am	At 5th Avenue	Nobody	Sedan. Traffic Control Disregarded.
5 September 2023, 9:23 pm	Mid-block, 5th to 6th	Nobody	Sedan and Van. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
19 October 2023, 11:18 pm	Mid-block, 5th to 6th	Pedestrian	SUV. None listed.
9 January 2024, 8:09 pm	At 6th Avenue	Cyclist	Bike and SUV. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
24 June 2024, 8:30 am	Mid-block, 5th to 6th	Nobody	SUV and Sedan. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
20 July 2024, 8:30 pm	At 5th Avenue	1 person	SUV and E-Scooter. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
21 August 2024, 1:30 am	At 6th Avenue	1 person	Sedan and Sedan. Alcohol Involvement.
27 September 2024, 8:17 pm	At 6th Avenue	Nobody	Sedan. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
2 January 2025, 3:40 pm	At 5th Avenue	Pedestrian	SUV. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
6 January 2025, 12:34 pm	Mid-block, 5th to 6th	Nobody	Sedan and Sedan. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
19 September 2025, 6:15 pm	At 5th Avenue	1 person	Moped and Sedan. Driver Inattention/Distraction.
23 November 2025, 5:00 am	Mid-block, 6th to 7th	Nobody	Sedan. Following Too Closely.
22 December 2025, 1:20 pm	At 5th Avenue	Nobody	Sedan and Sedan. Following Too Closely.
10 March 2026, 9:30 am	At 6th Avenue	Pedestrian	SUV. Failure to Yield Right-of-Way.
2 June 2026, 9:44 am	Mid-block, 5th to 6th	Nobody	SUV and SUV. Passing Too Closely.

Some crashes never make it into that count. On 25 March 2024, a car was rear-ended on our block while one of our kids was playing. Nobody was hurt, and the drivers didn't want to wait for police.³ The crash does not appear in the police record.⁶

Monday 25 March 2024, about 5:17 pm, from a door camera, with sound. One of our kids is at the curb beside the silver car as the crash happens in the lane beyond it.⁷

In March 2025, one of us was getting our kids out of the car when a driver racing for the highway nearly hit us.³ Neighbors say it has been this way for decades.³

Speed

A DOT study put our block at 27 mph.³ The speed limit is 25 mph,² but DOT requires an 85th percentile speed of at least 30 mph to qualify for a speed hump.¹¹ Drivers speed up mid-block to catch the light at 6th Avenue.¹

On the morning of 13 March 2024, the City issued 4 speed camera tickets on 77th Street between 4th and 6th Avenues, all within 49 minutes.¹² Speed cameras ticket only drivers going more than 10 mph over the limit,¹² which on a 25 mph street means above 35 mph. The record can't say whether each ticket was on our 5th to 6th block or the block before it.

A dark van drives down 77th Street with a line of vehicles ahead of it, toward a traffic signal at 6th Avenue. — Wednesday 2 April 2025, 8:15 am. A van follows a line of vehicles toward 6th Avenue.⁷

The same block on a quiet morning, with one car in the distance and new leaves on the trees. — Sunday 20 April 2025, 9:14 am. The same block with one car on it.⁷

An SUV crosses the intersection of 77th Street and 6th Avenue under a green signal, with 77th Street continuing toward 7th Avenue. — Monday 12 May 2025, 3:49 pm. The signal at 77th Street and 6th Avenue.⁷

Requests

We have repeatedly filed complaints and requested speed humps, well beyond the five studies in DOT's records since 2016.^1,4 DOT rejected all five because radar speeds were below its threshold of 30 mph at the 85th percentile.⁴

Every speed hump study on the two blocks in DOT's records since 2016.⁴
Opened	Block	Closed	DOT's answer
10 September 2016	5th to 6th	10 May 2022	Not Feasible
31 March 2023	5th to 6th	21 April 2023	Not Feasible
23 June 2023	6th to 7th	7 July 2023	Not Feasible
3 March 2025	5th to 6th	14 March 2025	Not Feasible
24 March 2026	6th to 7th	10 April 2026	Not Feasible

The state senator's office has responded to each request and contacted DOT and the precinct on our behalf,³ but we are still waiting for changes to the street.

Our correspondence with the state senator's office, in short.³
13 March 2024	The office filed a 311 ticket over our bent, small No Trucks sign, and spoke to DOT. DOT said it would send a mobile unit to do a speed study.
27 March 2024	We sent the office video of the rear-end crash on our block.
1 April 2024	The office said it would keep pressing DOT, and connected us with the 68th Precinct's Neighborhood Coordinating Officer.
1 March 2025	We told the office that a driver racing for the highway nearly hit one of us.
12 March 2025	The office asked the 68th Precinct's commanding officer for more enforcement.

In May 2024, we chalked SLOW across the road.

The word SLOW and rows of zigzag lines chalked in yellow across the roadbed of 77th Street, with parked cars on both sides. — Thursday 9 May 2024, 5:37 pm. SLOW, chalked across our street.⁷

Changes

What would make our block safe

The map with 77th Street marked, running one way from 5th Avenue through to 7th Avenue.

The same map with 77th Street reversed between 6th and 7th Avenues. A driver's path from 5th Avenue reaches 6th Avenue and turns either way, and a Do Not Enter sign faces them across 6th. 79th Street already works this way.

The map with speed humps marked twice on each block of 77th Street and 20 mph speed limit signs on both blocks.

The map with the corners of 77th Street at 5th and 6th Avenues circled, for red light cameras and curb extensions.

Today, drivers can follow 77th Street from 5th Avenue through to 7th Avenue.

We are asking for changes in three places. Each one helps on its own.

End the shortcut

Reverse the block between 6th and 7th Avenues. Drivers coming from 5th would reach 6th and have to turn, so the route to the highway stops working.

79th Street already works this way.² We would change our own routes too.

Slow the blocks

Speed humps on both blocks, a 20 mph limit, and a narrower lane as a low-traffic pilot. Drivers who still come through would have to slow down.

Fix the corners

Red light cameras and curb extensions at 5th and 6th Avenues, where most of our crashes happen,⁶ and police checks on trucks and speeding at rush hour.

Priority	What we want	Who can do it
1	Reverse 77th Street, 6th to 7th Avenue	DOT
2	Speed humps on both blocks	DOT
3	A low-traffic pilot for Bay Ridge, on both blocks	DOT, City Council
4	A 20 mph limit on both blocks under Sammy's Law	DOT
5	Truck and traffic enforcement at rush hour	NYPD 68th Precinct
6	Red light cameras at 5th and 6th Avenues	DOT
7	Curb extensions at 5th and 6th Avenues	DOT
Done	Trees trimmed so signals can be seen¹	NYC Parks

Sammy's Law lets the City post 20 mph on streets outside Manhattan with fewer than three lanes each way.¹³ 77th Street has one lane.² DOT gives priority to locations such as schools,¹³ and we have a daycare on the block and P.S. 127 about 700 feet away.^1,8

Streetsblog counted 17 community board resolutions asking for 20 mph zones by October 2026.¹⁴ The Comptroller's list of those boards does not include Community Board 10.¹⁵ We are asking Community Board 10 to pass a resolution for our blocks.

We want these two blocks to be Bay Ridge's low-traffic pilot, with our one lane narrowed so drivers have to slow down. DOT says more than half the drivers on Driggs Avenue in Greenpoint are cutting through, and it plans to install diverters there this fall.¹⁶ A City Council bill, Int 1070, would start a two-year low-traffic pilot in five neighborhoods.¹⁷ Bay Ridge should be one of them.

Sign the petition

Questions

What neighbors ask us

Isn't 77th Street an emergency route?

We found no record that it is. DOT won't put speed humps on a block with a firehouse or a hospital emergency entrance,¹¹ and our blocks have neither.⁸ The City took down its snow emergency route signs in 2013.¹⁸

Will speed humps damage our houses?

Tests say no. UK trials found humps shouldn't crack even plaster unless one sits within about 13 feet of a house,¹⁹ and our house fronts are about 20 feet or more from the curb.^2,9 In a federal test house, a slammed door strained the wall more than three times as much as nearby mine blasts.²⁰

Will we lose parking?

Not from speed humps, the reversal, a 20 mph limit or a narrower lane. Curb extensions at 5th and 6th Avenues could take the space nearest each crosswalk, depending on DOT's design.

Won't speed humps be noisy?

DOT says humps may add some noise.¹¹ Most of it comes from trucks, and we want them off our block.

DOT has said no five times. Why ask again?

All five studies turned on one number, radar speeds below 30 mph at the 85th percentile.⁴ Our other asks follow other rules, and each helps on its own.

Petition

Add your name

Sign if you live on this block or your children walk it.

Form not loading? Open it in its own tab.

We share names and addresses only with the offices named in the petition. They never appear on this page.

Other ways to help

Report a truck cutting through311
Request a speed hump311 request
Write to Council Member SantosuossoCouncil page
Write to Senator GounardesSenate page
Go to a Community Board 10 meetingBoard page

Trucks delivering to an address on the block are allowed, so report the ones passing through.

Sources

Where every number comes from

Residents of 77th Street. Accounts, photos and a navigation screenshot, 2025 and 2026. The figure of 20 children is one resident's count in November 2026 of children they know, so a full tally would be higher. The same resident reported in November 2026 that NYC Parks has trimmed the trees, that Little Sprouts Bay Ridge Day Care operates on the block, and that neighbors have asked for speed humps many more times than DOT's five studies. Children's faces are blurred.
NYC Office of Technology and Innovation. Centerline, street direction, width, lanes and posted speed. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
Residents of 77th Street. Private correspondence among neighbors and with the office of State Senator Andrew Gounardes, March 2024 to March 2025. The 27 mph figure is as reported by a resident in March 2024.
NYC DOT. Speed Reducer Tracking System. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
NYC311. 311 Service Requests, 2020 to present and 2010 to 2019, with NYPD's resolution text. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
NYPD. Motor Vehicle Collisions, Crashes, 1 March 2021 to 1 November 2026, on these two blocks and at their corners, within 45 feet of the street line. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
Residents of 77th Street. Photos and video, 2023 to 2025. Dates and times come from each file's own record. The photo of the sign is undated. Children's faces are blurred.
NYC Department of City Planning. Facilities Database. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
New York State GIS Program Office. Orthoimagery. NYC Parks. Forestry Tree Points. NYC Office of Technology and Innovation. Building Footprints. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
NYC DOT. New York City Truck Routes. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
NYC DOT. Traffic calming design guidelines. The guideline asks for an 85th percentile speed of at least 30 mph, the speed 85 of every 100 cars stay under. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
NYC Open Data. Parking Violations Issued, Fiscal Year 2024, violation code 36. Retrieved 5 November 2026. NYC Department of Finance. School zone speed camera violations, for the 10 mph rule.
NYC DOT. Speed limit reductions under Sammy's Law. 27 June 2024.
Streetsblog NYC. Community board resolutions on Sammy's Law. 8 October 2026.
NYC Comptroller. Implementing Sammy's Law. 14 October 2026.
Streetsblog NYC. DOT lays groundwork for low-traffic neighborhood around Greenpoint school. 9 September 2026.
New York City Council. Int 1070-2026, low-traffic neighborhood pilot program. Introduced 24 September 2026, laid over in committee. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
Streetsblog NYC. What happened to the city's snow routes. 6 February 2026.
UK Department for Transport. Road humps and ground-borne vibrations, Traffic Advisory Leaflet 8/96, summarizing Transport Research Laboratory track trials. December 1996. The 13 feet is the leaflet's 4 meters. House-front distances are measured from Centerline and Building Footprints.
U.S. Bureau of Mines. Effects of Repeated Blasting on a Wood-Frame House, Report of Investigations 8896, by Stagg, Siskind, Stevens and Dowding. 1984. Table 1, wall over the entrance door: 140 microinches per inch from a door slam, against 36 and 43 from mine blasts of 0.39 and 0.32 inches per second. The test house was wood-frame, and our houses are brick.