By Paul Liotta | pliotta@siadvance.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A speed camera program expansion gained another layer of support Thursday as the City Council passed a resolution calling on the State Legislature to pass the broader trial program.
City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) and City Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island) joined five of their Council colleagues in voting against the resolution asking the Legislature for an expansion to the city’s school zone speed camera system that would allow the cameras to run all day.
The city’s speed camera program launched in 2014 and expanded in 2019 to include broader areas around schools.
Under its current configuration, New York City’s school zone speed cameras exist as a trial program the state legislature needs to renew every few years, and need to be turned off from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“The cameras haven’t worked; we have seen more deaths now than before,” Borelli said. “I can’t get a stop sign, speed bump, or sidewalk installed, but DOT comes like gangbusters if it’s a camera or a bike lane.”
According to publicly available city data, traffic fatalities have actually gone up over the past five years. From Jan. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31 of that year, there were 256 people killed in motor vehicle collisions. In the same time period in 2021, there were 294 fatalities. The lowest total came in 2018 with 231 fatalities.
Proponents of the speed cameras argue that camera-encouraged lower speeds reduce the injury rate in collisions, but opponents have characterized the cameras as little more than a money grab.
“Nearly 10 years after these speed cameras were first introduced to our streets, and then expanded almost 40 fold, the number of traffic deaths in this city is nearly identical. Are they slowing some people down? Maybe the conscientious drivers, who are not the problem,” Carr said.
“But they don’t address the actual reckless drivers and scofflaws who are causing the problems. This is about money not public safety. We can find ways to make our roads safer for pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists without picking the pockets of Staten Islanders and New Yorkers.”
The Staten Island Advance/SILive.com analyzed speed camera violation records that are publicly available on the city’s Open Data page to determine which locations have issued the most tickets.
The data reflects all speed camera violations that have been issued on Staten Island from Jan. 1, 2022, through Apr. 26, 2022, the last date available on the city’s Open Data page.
During that time, violations were issued at over 200 locations throughout the borough, though the DOT’s refusal to provide locations for speed cameras leaves it unclear how many of the locations have permanent cameras and how many were issued by mobile units.
Over the nearly four-month span, speed cameras on Staten Island issued a total of 76,614 school zone speed camera violations, according to city records.
At $50 per violation, that represents $3,830,700 in revenue generated by the city during that time.
Most Democrats voted in favor of the City Council resolution, but City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy (D-Brooklyn) and City Councilman Kalman Yeager (D-Brooklyn) joined their Republican colleagues in opposition.
City Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore) voted in favor of the resolution. Hanks and other Democrats have called for more robust signage notifying motorists of upcoming speed cameras.
“I want to echo something, the sentiment as a Staten Islander…it’s a car culture, but there’s something to be said about obeying the speed limit,” she said. “This bill is something that I ran on, which is making sure that people know that there are speed cameras in the vicinity.”
In a statement, Hanks referenced the death of a 1-year-old girl and the injuries to her 31-year-old mother injured when they were struck by a vehicle Thursday morning in Rosebank.
“Speeding and reckless driving are a major public safety issue in our borough. Just this morning, a 1 year old baby fell victim to them,” she said. “Our neighbors and families deserve safe streets, and drivers should know when they are approaching a speed camera. Hopefully this legislation accomplishes that.”https://66b128f11c3bc95ea35af0f8865ebe4b.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Last week, he applauded state legislation that would allow the city to operate its school zone speed cameras 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. It would also extend the school zone program, first introduced in 2019, another three years.
“Make no mistake about it, this is a major victory for New Yorkers that will save lives and help stem the tide of traffic violence that has taken too many,” Adams said. “[We] cannot do this alone, and my team and I have been working closely with our partners in Albany for months to get this done.”