Elmhurst Activists Rally To Keep School Zone Speed Cameras In NYC

EAST ELMHURST, QUEENS -- A Queens senator wants to see the state double down on speed cameras in New York City school zones, but first he faces a race against time to keep the dozens already installed from disappearing.

New York Senator Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) recently posed a bill to expand and renew a pilot program that brought 140 speed cameras to NYC school zones when the Legislature approved it in 2013.

Senators have two weeks to sign the bill to renew the program, which expires in July 25. If they don't, NYC schools can say goodbye to the 140 speed cameras and another 150 speed monitoring devices Peralta's bill would add if the program expanded.

Activists gathered at Northern and Junction boulevards on Thursday in a rally calling on Peralta's colleagues to expand what he calls a "life-saving initiative."

"The school zone speed camera program saved countless of lives, so there is no logical reason to let it expire," Peralta said. "We cannot play politics with schoolchildren and New Yorkers' lives."

Locations with cameras have seen a 63 percent decline in speeding violations and a 23 percent decrease in pedestrian injuries, Peralta said.

Under the new bill, nearly 300 speed cameras would operate within a quarter mile from their designated NYC school, and they would work throughout school days and student activities.

"If the Republicans let this initiative expire, kids in summer school will travel to and from school on more dangerous streets," Peralta said. "The same will occur when more than one million school children return to school after summer vacation."

Last month, the New York City Council passed the home rule request required for the State Legislature to give the green light to approve the bill. Senator Peralta’s bill has currently 34 co-sponsors, including the entire State Democratic Conference, more than enough to pass the bill.

Lead photo courtesy of the Office of Senator Jose Peralta