An unobtrusive camera catches 435 speeding drivers every weekday in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx.
It’s one of New York City’s newest and busiest traffic cams, issuing $50 tickets to anyone who ignores the 25 miles per hour speed limit near a school. And it plays a vital role in the city’s battle against a pandemic wave of speeding and reckless driving that has led to the highest number of road deaths in eight years.
But the camera must be turned off from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and on weekends due to a state law passed 150 miles away in Albany — even though nearly 60 percent of fatal crashes in the city during the pandemic occurred during those hours. The law links camera use to school hours.
“The city is speeding 24 hours a day, but our cameras go to sleep from 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. and take the weekends off,” said Danny Harris, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group.
So far this year, on May 12, 80 people – including 37 pedestrians and 28 drivers and passengers – have died in urban accidents, up 14 percent from the same period last year.
Albany has long controlled many policies that affect the lives of New York City’s nearly 9 million residents, from banning single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and retail stores to a congestion charge for drivers in the busiest parts of New York City. Manhattan. The long reach is rooted in the New York State Constitution, which the courts have interpreted to give the state great authority over local governments.
“In every state, cities have state laws,” explains Noah Kazis, a legal researcher who studies transportation issues. “Cities have only the powers that states give them. And Albany can be pretty stingy with those powers if it wants to.”
Mayor Eric Adams and Ydanis Rodriguez, the transportation commissioner, have been trying in recent weeks to take control of the city’s network of nearly 2,000 speed cameras and other key traffic enforcement powers, including setting speed limits for the entire city, from state lawmakers.
The city’s push for local control — known in legislative parlance as “home rule” — has the backing of Governor Kathy Hochul, who recently said at a transportation conference, “I think the state has way too much power over some of these decisions. .”
But as the current Albany session ends by June 2, these New York City traffic enforcement powers remain firmly in the grip of the state. Mr. Adams, who has visited the state capitol twice this year to discuss the city’s priorities with lawmakers, has been criticized by some who have described his lobbying efforts in Albany as a bull’s eye.
Political aides and lobbyists are calling the city’s attempt to regain rule sporadic, disorganized and last minute. A bill on this was yet to be introduced this week, although city officials said they had suggested the language of the law.
Councilor William Magnarelli, a Syracuse Democrat who chairs the General Assembly transportation committee, said he told city officials he needed to review a bill before moving forward. “We will take a good look at everything and move forward from there,” he said.
While state legislators have occasionally transferred power to the city — most notably by awarding mayor of public schools to Michael R. Bloomberg in 2002 — “it doesn’t always happen,” said Clayton P. Gillette, a professor at New York City University School of Law. “The legislature likes to keep its prerogative.”
Instead, state legislators have often used their power over the city as a bargaining chip in negotiations, including to make concessions on unrelated issues. Even school mayorship has come with limitations: City officials still have to lobby regularly to get it renewed, as they must this year before it expires on June 30.
“It’s part of the dysfunction in our state government and is counterproductive and damaging to New York City,” said Rachael Fauss, senior research analyst at Reinvent Albany, a watchdog group.
New York City, of course, still has a lot to say about its 6,000-plus miles of streets. It’s the city that decides where traffic lights, bus and bike paths and parking lots go, said Samuel I. Schwartz, a former city traffic commissioner. “The city sets the rules for about 95 percent of what a motorist encounters,” he said.
But as the city increasingly relies on cameras to enforce speed limits, especially during the pandemic, a state-authorized but city-run camera program that began in 20 school zones in 2013 has expanded to 750 school zones, effectively covering the five boroughs. covered.
When the cameras catch a vehicle going more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, a $50 fine is sent to the registered owner. Last year, the cameras issued 4,369,250 tickets, compared to 1,287,968 tickets in 2017.
Red light cameras, which started in 1993, have expanded much more slowly to 223 cameras at 150 intersections. Last year, red light cameras issued 555,442 tickets, compared to 538,541 tickets in 2017.
By having control over these cameras, city officials claim they can make quick changes to respond to the traffic crisis.
Research studies have shown that well-designed camera programs can deter drivers from running a red light, reduce speed by 65 percent and help prevent up to 44 percent of serious crashes, according to an analysis by the National Association of City Transportation Officials.
In New York, one indicator that speed cameras are working is that tickets drop significantly after the first year, city officials said. For example, a camera installed in Manhattan’s West Village in 2020 now issues about 33 tickets per day, compared to more than 300 tickets per day during the first month.
But the speed cameras have been criticized by some drivers and elected officials who say the program has become a way to fill the city’s coffers and claim there are other ways to slow traffic that are less punitive, such as speed bumps and warning signs.
“It’s so easy to go over 25mph that it just becomes a revenue heist,” said Councilor David I. Weprin, a Queens Democrat who has received dozens of complaints from drivers. “It’s become a gotcha problem.”
In 2018, the speed cameras went off shortly after the program became entangled in partisan politics, and the State Senate, which was led by Republicans at the time, refused to extend it. Then Governor Andrew M. Cuomo intervened with an executive order to reactivate the cameras.
The city’s increasing reliance on speed cameras has also drawn criticism from the New York City Council, which has not taken a stance on whether or not to support the home-rule effort.
Councilwoman Adrienne Adams, a Democrat from Queens, said she was concerned residents would be more likely to get tickets in neighborhoods where there has been a historical lack of investment in redesigning streets with speed bumps and other measures that make it more difficult. to drive too fast. † “I am deeply concerned about the particular reliance on this punitive enforcement,” she said.
Vehicles in the name of several current and former councilors have also been ticketed by the speed cameras, one more than 20 times, according to local media reports.
Ms. Adams has suggested improvements to the camera program, including more community input on where cameras are placed and using ticket money to pay for street safety improvements in the neighborhoods where the cameras are.
As it has become clear that the city will not succeed in acquiring broad traffic enforcement powers in this session, there is now a renewed focus on expanding the speed camera program, which expires in July. City officials are seeking state permission to use the cameras continuously, place them outside school zones and impose escalating penalties for repeated violations.
The city council is working with the Adams administration and the state legislature on bills to expand speed cameras, a council spokesman said.
The city hall also aims to extend and expand the red light camera program, which expires in 2024, for another five years, and to introduce a pilot camera program to catch motorists blocking bike lanes or speeding.
“If we got local control, we’d be doing all these things,” said Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for operations.
Senator Andrew Gounardes, a Brooklyn Democrat who supports the city’s efforts, said he has made it clear to co-legislators that these changes are critical to improving road safety.
“These are things we want to fix in the speed camera program as we advocate for home rule,” he said.
