Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday more than quintupled the number of city school zones covered by speed cameras, from 140 to 750, in reinstating and expanding the life-saving law.
“It’s common sense. It works,” said Cuomo in a press briefing in his Midtown office, flanked by his mom, Matilda, on a rainy Mother’s Day. “And it is the right thing to do.”
School zones across the five boroughs will now be under the watchful mechanical eyes of as many as 2,250 speed cameras.
The law also expands the hours of the speed-camera program from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. It had previously run from an hour before the start of the school day to an hour after its conclusion.
“Something as simple as walking to and from school can be the most dangerous part of the day, especially in this city, with this complexity, with this density, with this energy, this New York hurry-up, with the constant frenzy,” said Cuomo. “And we’ve learned it the hard way.
“We lost many people, especially too many young people.”
But, Cuomo said, the first wave of speed cameras have already made a dent in traffic deaths, something he hopes will only continue under the expansion.
“Speed cameras work,” he said, pointing to a 55-percent drop in school-zone traffic fatalities since the first cameras turned on. “It is just undeniable.”
The cameras will be installed in phases across three years, city Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said in March, when the bill was first passed in the state legislature.
Cuomo additionally revealed Sunday that the new cameras will have a targeted roll-out, prioritizing those school zones with the worst speed and crash data.