NYC Speed Cameras To Be Turned Back On Before School Starts

NEW YORK CITY -- Speed cameras in city school zones will be turned back on before the kids head back to class after Governor Andrew Cuomo, City Speaker Corey Johnson and Mayor Bill de Blasio came up with a temporary solution.

Speed cameras that track reckless drivers near schools are expected turn on in New York City before classes resume in September and months after the state Senate failed to renew the law that kept them running, officials announced Monday.

"It's an extraordinary action but it's an extraordinary situation," Cuomo said at a press conference Monday morning. "I never believed [the state Senate] would be this irresponsible."

The deal means cameras can be used to track speeding drivers through their license plates in 140 school zones for 30 days after de Blasio signs the bill, which City Council is expected to pass on Wednesday, officials said.

Lawmakers hope De Blasio will be able to sign the bill next Tuesday, before public schools reopen on Sept. 5.

The governor, mayor and City Council each have contributed a piece to a complicated legal maneuver.

Cuomo’s executive order calls on the Department of Motor Vehicles to share camera data with the city for the next 30 days by declaring a state of emergency, the governor said.

De Blasio’s message of necessity will allow City Council to discuss and vote on legislation on Wednesday more quickly than would normally be allowed.

And the legislation will allow city officials to act upon information — such as ticketing speeders who are caught on camera — shared by the DMV.

“I really am grateful we're gonna get these cameras turned back on,” said Johnson, who spent the past four days working with state and city officials to design the legislation.

“I'm grateful that we're taking action today.”

The lawmakers have been working to find this complex solution since June, when a Republican-led state Senate failed to pass the bill that would renew the program, then refused to reconvene despite protests and pleas from city politicians and parents.

Data shows the cameras have made city streets safer since they were first used in 2014. The city's Department of Transportation reported fatalities in school zones fitted with speed cameras dropped 55 percent and speeding dropped 63 percent during school hours.

Transportation activist Amy Cohen, whose 12-year-old son Sammy was killed when he ran after a soccer ball into a Brooklyn street and was struck by a van, was near tears when she thanked city lawmakers for the emergency action.

“When your child dies, it is hard to be grateful. The world suddenly seems dark and very cruel,” she said. “But today there is a little light.”

“There are now children who will get to graduate ... unlike Sammy.”

(Lead image: A woman on a bike with a child rides past school buses in the East Village in January 2013. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)