BREAKING: Golden calls for senate to reconvene to pass school zone speed camera bill

State Sen. Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn) has formally called on majority leader John Flanagan to reconvene the Senate and pass the speed camera bill.

Since the state legislative session concluded nineteen days ago, Golden has heard from his constituents, advocates, and victims’ families and is urging his colleagues to return to Albany and pass the speed camera legislation.

With two week left before the cameras go dark, Golden has called for a vote to make sure the cameras stay active. According to his Deputy Chief of Staff John Quaglione, “Senator Golden recognizes the importance of the life-saving speed camera program and what it has done to save lives and slow down traffic.”

Golden was one of the first to acknowledge the need for speed cameras. He strongly advocated that the cameras be placed on streets near schools in order to help catch drivers racing through slow speed zones where children were present.

Recently, Golden was the target of protests because he appeared to backtrack on his original endorsement. Although repeatedly stating his support of the idea of keeping the cameras working, political rivals and members of organizations like Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets said that Golden was not doing enough.

Because of what opponents felt was lack of support for safety issues, Golden, along with Senators Simcha Felder (D-Borough Park-Midwood) and Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) were blamed for failing to continue to fight for the street cameras.

After meeting with transportation safety advocates in May, Golden announced that he would back the legislation to install more cameras.

With the State Senate failing to vote to approve the use of the cameras the fear is that they would be turned off by the deadline date of July 25.

If the bill ultimately passes in both the Senate and Assembly, and is signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, the new law would not expire until July 1, 2022.

“Senator Golden believes that anything short of a vote by the Senate before July 25‬, to support the continuation and expansion of speed cameras throughout New York City, would be an unacceptable failure for the people of New York,” Quaglione added.‬

Here is Golden’s office’s official statement:

“Since the State legislative session concluded nineteen days ago, Senator Marty Golden has strongly echoed the calls of his constituents, advocates, and victims’ families, urging his colleagues to return to Albany and pass the speed camera legislation. Now, as the window for action is closing, and the cameras stand to go dark in exactly two weeks, Senator Golden is publicly calling on Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan to reconvene the Senate and call a vote. Senator Golden recognizes the importance of the life-saving speed camera program and what it has done to save lives and slow down traffic. Senator Golden believes that anything short of a vote by the Senate before July 25th, to support the continuation and expansion of speed cameras throughout New York City, would be an unacceptable failure for the people of New York.”