Speed cams green light
The City Council put it in high gear Wednesday, zooming past Albany lawmakers to restore a much-needed safety measure.
The Council voted overwhelmingly to get speed cameras turned back on in school zones in time for the first day of school next week.
The move comes after the speed camera program, established four years ago by state law, lapsed in June when a renewal bill stalled in the State Senate.
“I promised that we would do everything in our power a couple weeks ago at a hearing, that we had to make sure kids were safe on their first day of school,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “And that is why we're doing this.”
Advocates from Families for Safe Streets watched the vote from the balcony, holding photos of children lost in car accidents outside schools.
The law mirrors the state law, and allows the city to issue $50 fines to motorists going more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit in school zones.
“It will keep children who are walking to and from school safe,” Johnson said.
Sunday night, Johnson unveiled the plan for the city to enact its own program — with help from Gov. Cuomo, who would issue an executive order giving the city the power to access state Department of Motor Vehicle records needed to issue tickets.
The governor's emergency executive order, signed Monday, went further — putting the state law back on the books for 30 days on grounds that it's a necessary “emergency” action.
The Council, meanwhile, has pushed forward with its own law to establish the program, long thought to be the domain of the state, arguing the executive order's reinstatement of the state law is temporary.
Three councilmen voted against the emergency bill — Kalman Yeger, (D-Brooklyn) Steven Matteo (R-Staten Island) and Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island).
“This bill, in my view, is not within the purview of the council,” Yeger said when he voted. “And I don't vote for measures that are not within our legal authority to do.”
Yeger also griped about the short notice for a hearing on the bill Tuesday and the vote on Wednesday: “I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention my thanks to the Daily News for letting me know about today's meeting and yesterday's hearing.”
Johnson, meanwhile, stressed the importance of different branches of government coming together, including the usually feuding Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio.
The mayor issued a message of necessity to speed up the City Council voting process.
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, said, “The inaction of legislators in Albany created crisis. A crisis that put the lives at risk of students.”
For years, the speed camera program had been painted as something the Council did not have the authority to do without help from the state, and the legislation and executive order could face legal challenges.