By Eric W. Schoen
BULLETIN: As we go to press an announcement that Showcase Cinemas De Luxe movie theaters will reopen Friday, October 23 at Yonkers Cross County and White Plains City Center! Let’s all go to the movies!
Readers of this column know I am no fan of Red Light Cameras that exist in New York and throughout our country. They simply cheat people out of their hard earned money. There is no check on traffic lights to make sure they are working properly allowing proper timing between red, yellow and green lights that I have seen!
I have tried numerous times to see the so called ‘review’ process where the tickets are, before they are sent out ‘supposedly’ reviewed by law enforcement officials to make sure there truly was a violation. Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano’s administration has continuously refused my request.
If someone was actually reviewing the tickets I would think City Hall would want me to see it. Leads me to believe that no one is reviewing the tickets.
Two things you should know. If the bright flashing lights that go on when pictures of license plates are being taken are interrupting your household living, you have the right to request a review and have the flashing lights cut back. Yonkers has done this at locations throughout the city. If the pictures and video you get from the city are dark and grainy that is probably what has occurred.
If you go to www.yonkersny.gov/live/parking-transportation/parking-violations-bureau/red-light-cameras-how-it-works-locations you can get a complete list of the locations where Red Light Cameras exist. Print it out, give it to your friends and neighbors. Let’s all be extra careful going through Red Light Camera locations to decrease the revenue they bring in. Make our City Fathers who supported them happy!
There are fewer cars on the road due to COVID-19 and the many people who are working from home. This has given those who drive license to speed way over the posted speed limits. Earlier this week I was going through the traffic light on Rumsey Road to enter the Saw Mill briefly to go to the Cross County Parkway and motorcycles were passing me on my right and left, the left cycle going against traffic. Dangerous and scary.
I notice the livery and for hire cars and the Lyft and Uber cars driving particularly fast. Many of these cars are programmed using fancy systems to get to and from their locations as quickly as possible to make the car owners more money and the customers happy. That’s no excuse for not following the speed limits.
Have you seen the large increase of kids and adults driving motor cycle type vehicles, some with and some without license plates in groups just for fun on the streets of Yonkers, New York City and other communities in Westchester?
Never saw these types of vehicles prior to the pandemic. Now they rev up their engines and speed, darting in and out of traffic. Very dangerous. And I don’t see law enforcement doing anything to stop the dangers they are causing. Maybe law enforcement can’t legally do anything.
Bottom line is that because fewer vehicles are on the road, speeding has gotten out of control. Everyone’s honking their horns for the car in front of them to go faster. If it happens to you just slow down And make the speeder wait.
All of this calls for speed cameras on our area roadways. A calibrated fee schedule based on how many miles over the speed limit a car is going. With municipal budgets in crisis they should find this as a much needed revenue source. Maybe with these cameras people will slow down. Something has to be done before accidents happen and lives are lost.
Speed Cameras in New York City in school zones have been very successful in stopping cars from speeding. Yonkers and other municipalities in Westchester can certainly use School Speed Zone cameras, but we need to have these cameras on roads where large numbers of people speed, at least through this pandemic which many feel has given them the right to go charging through our streets.
A proposal for School Bus cameras in Yonkers is before the City Council. I support it. We need a major campaign to inform the public what the rules are regarding passing a stopped school bus. In New York City you can make a full stop and slowly go around a stopped school bus lights flashing and stop signs extended. You can’t do that in Yonkers or anywhere in Westchester.
Lights flashing, signs extended in Yonkers and Westchester you must stop until the signs come down and the warning lights are off. New York City folks come up to Westchester and honk their horns as cars are stopped the way they are supposed to. Don’t break the law. You know what it is.
We are fortunate in Yonkers that we have very few accidents involving our precious school children. Yet we all see cars illegally and dangerously passing stopped school buses. This must be stopped. The drivers must be fined. And the bus drivers can’t drive their whole shift with lights flashing. Yes, I’ve seen it happen if not for the whole shift but for long stretches of time where no pickups are taking place. That’s why education is so important.
Now be honest friends, did you ever think you would see me supporting these types of ticketing programs. They are for safety. Red Light Camera programs are quick money grabbers. I still think the Red Light Cameras should be eliminated until someone shows me where the law enforcement review process is taking place and that all lights in Yonkers are properly calibrated. The calibration must come from an unbiased source.
Whenever if ever that happens I’ll take a second look at the Yonkers Red Light Camera program!
Briefs: Early Voting in New York Starts Saturday October 24. In Yonkers it takes place at the Will and Riverfront branches of the Yonkers Public Library. The Board of Elections website lists all the early voting locations in Westchester. You can drop off your absentee ballot in a locked box at the early voting locations. No waiting in line.
The Board of Elections needs poll workers. They have increased the salary but with COVID-19 there are risks to the job. Check the Board of Elections website. If it is not to late to request an absentee ballot do so. Why put your health and the health of others in jeopardy. Make your voice heard. Vote!
Enforcement of the Reusable Bag Campaign took place on Monday. I saw a sign at Stop and Shop that said their staff will not pack groceries in the reusable bags you bring from home. I agree. Who knows when the bag was washed or what has been put in it. Though I still haven’t seen plastic bags in Yonkers trees, the state could have waited until the current pandemic is over to introduce a reusable bag program.
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.com and click the arrow to listen to the live stream or download the WVOX app from the App Store free of charge.
