Hundreds of angry Staten Island residents expressed their frustration at NYC’s ongoing speed camera program during a packed town hall meeting on Saturday.
The event, organized by outspoken Staten Island social activists Scott LoBaido and John Tabacco, was held at Great Kills Little League on March 1. It took place just three months before the state legislature considers whether to renew the program that is designed to stop speeding drivers from wreaking havoc around the city.
More than 300 people filled the meeting room, cheering on the speakers’ calls to end the program around the city—reducing a street safety program into a matter of dollars and cents.
“People are tired of getting spat on by the government,” LoBaido said. “What pisses me off is that the people let it happen. It’s my job to wake them up. These speed cameras are not about safety. Speedbumps help, but asphalt doesn’t make coin. If it was about safety, they’d have speed bumps all over the place.”
LoBaido apparently knows a lot about paying “coin” for traffic violations. A Streetsblog article claimed LoBaido —known for publicity stunts against progressive causes, such as throwing pizza at City Hall to protest environmental legislation impacting pizza ovens — had been hit with a multitude of speeding tickets.
Cameras’ impact
The speed camera program will expire this year unless the state legislature reauthorizes it during the current legislative session.
Although speed cameras in NYC are an ongoing controversy, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) reports that they have significantly reduced injuries and fatalities.
According to a 2024 DOT research report, areas with speed cameras installed in 2022 demonstrated 14% fewer injuries and fatalities than locations with no cameras.
“It isn’t a coincidence that locations with speed cameras have seen massive reductions in speeding, fewer deaths, and fewer injuries,” DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in January. “We look forward to working with our partners in Albany this session to renew a critical law that allows us to use these life-saving tools.”
There are more than 2,000 speed cameras in about 750 school zones across the city. Research has found that vehicles that receive more than 25 violations from the cameras within 12 months are 15 times more likely to be involved in a crash with severe injury or death.
Cameras are located across the city, but Staten Island has the lowest density of speed cameras per square mile of all the five boroughs, NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) officials said.
‘Accidents are happening’
Still, some elected officials who attended the rally on March 1 describe the speed camera as a “money grab” from New Yorkers.
“There is a lot wrong in the city of New York, and I hate saying it but it’s true,” Staten Island state Sen. Andrew Lanza said. “But the best part of New York is Staten Island. People want to call us names and say we’re not compassionate, but they’re not compassionate. It’s not compassionate to treat the people you represent as cash registers.”
Meanwhile, Peter Di Micelli, who attended the meeting, said there are better ways to stop speeding drivers, including more speed bumps and stop signs.
“Accidents are happening because people see the speed cameras or notice them and jam on their brakes, and all of a sudden, you’re in a rear-end accident,” he said. “The answer is more stop signs, more speed bumps, less cameras and more law enforcement.”
