GOPer joins rush for speed cams

ALBANY – With just days remaining before the city’s speed enforcement cameras go dark, state Sen. Martin Golden on Wednesday called for the leader of the Senate to bring lawmakers back to Albany to extend the program.

In a statement issued through spokesman John Quaglione, Golden, a Brooklyn Republican, called for Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk County) to reconvene the Senate and pass legislation that would extend and expand the speed camera program before its authorization expires on July 25.

“Sen. Golden recognizes the importance of the lifesaving speed camera program and what it has done to save lives and slow down traffic,” Quaglione said. “Sen. Golden believes that anything short of a vote by the Senate before July 25th, to support the continuation and expansion of speed cameras throughout New York City, would be an unacceptable failure for the people of New York."

Golden’s statement marked the first time that a member of the Senate’s ruling GOP conference had called for lawmakers to return to Albany to deal with the speed camera issue. The Brooklyn pol has taken heat from Democrats and other traffic safety advocates for not doing more to save the speed camera program.

A spokesman for Flanagan did not comment on Golden’s statement.