GOP plan: Lights, not speed cams

ALBANY — Under fire for letting the city's speed camera program lapse, state Senate Republicans on Saturday floated an idea they say better addresses student pedestrian safety.

They want to require stop lights or stop signs at intersections in more than 1,000 school zones.

GOP senators say their plan would be more effective than the 140 automatic cameras that snap pictures of the license plates of cars that speed or run red lights.

By law, the cameras are to shut down on July 30. Mayor de Blasio had hoped to extend their use — and to add another 150 cameras to the program.

Critics of the Senate idea note that motorists regularly run stop lights and stop signs without being punished.

“This is a scam deal that will do nothing to continue the progress we've made in reducing traffic deaths,” said Raul Contreras, a spokesman for de Blasio.

The Senate Republican bill would extend the speed camera program by another six months. Senators say the fines paid motorists caught by cameras speeding or running red lights over those months would fund installation of more red lights and stop signs.

The city speed camera program has generated $83.4 million since its inception in 2014, the GOP says.

Senate Republicans doomed Mayor de Blasio's effort to expand the speed camera program by seeking to appease Sen. Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat who sides with the GOP.

Felder would not go along with keeping the speed cameras unless the Assembly and Senate approved his plan to put more armed cops in city schools. His plan is opposed by the Democrats who run the Assembly.