NYC Speed Camera Program's Imminent Death Sparks Outrage

NEW YORK, NY — The state Legislature failed to renew New York City's ability to use cameras to ticket speeding drivers near schools, prompting outrage from local officials. Lawmakers closed the year's legislative session early Thursday morning without renewing the authorization for the so-called speed camera program, putting it in danger of being shut down in July.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials vehemently condemned the Legislature's inability to put politics aside and preserve a program that's been shown to make streets safer.

"The failure to preserve and expand life-saving speed cameras near New York City schools represents a massive failure of leadership," de Blasio said in a statement Thursday. "Kids will be in danger. Kids will lose their lives."

The city has used cameras to ticket drivers in 140 school zones since June 2014. The program has trimmed speeding during school hours by more than 63 percent and reduced injuries by more than 14 percent, according to a city Department of Transportation report.

The current authorization for the cameras ends July 25. City officials support expanding the program, which currently limits where and when the cameras can be used.

The mostly Democratic state Assembly proposed a bill that would have linked an expansion of the program to routine legislation allowing local governments to continue charging certain taxes, City & State reported. But Republicans in the Senate reportedly resisted, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not meaningfully intervene despite saying he supports the measure.

Cuomo, who spent much of the last legislative session day doing interviews about the separation of immigrant children from their families, said he would call lawmakers back to Albany to address the issue sometime before the fall.

"I think it would be an atrocity and literally a public safety hazard if the Senate doesn’t renew the cameras by the time the children start school in September," the Democratic governor told reporters Thursday. "I’ll bring them back, I’m going to continue to lobby."

City officials similarly blamed Senate Republicans and urged them to get behind the Assembly's bill. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said the Senate "failed" the city.

The inaction puts kids' lives in danger, city officials said. A vehicle with multiple traffic violations speeds through a school zone or runs a red light more than 1,100 times a day in the city, according to an analysis by City Comptroller Scott Stringer.

"Children’s lives literally hang in the balance," Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said in a statement. "Governor Cuomo must call legislators back with a special session as soon as possible."

(Lead image: Photo by dianavulpes/Shutterstock)