NYC speed cameras to run around the clock beginning Monday
Starting today, speed cameras in New York City will be on all the time.
The Department of Transportation said the city’s 2,000 automated speed cameras will operate 24/7.
The cameras currently only operate between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., with 59 percent of traffic fatalities occurring during outside of those hours, officials said.
Oscar Hernandez, 61, of Hamilton Heights in Upper Manhattan told The Post on Sunday that he welcomes the measure — especially in light of the rampant drag-racing and crashes in his neighborhood.
“You leave your car parked, you find the bumper in the street,” he said.
But veteran city cabbie Louis Cont said taxi drivers are often commanded to hit the gas by impatient passengers who don’t care about speeding tickets.
“I think it’s not right because the passengers, after 10 p.m., they say, ‘Oh, go, go quickly, quickly!’ ” he said. “The passenger may complain, ‘Hey, why are you going so slow?’ I say, ‘Listen, we have many cameras.’ They don’t care about the cameras.”
When asked if he’s ever received a ticket from the traffic cameras, he laughed and said, “Many.”
Speed cameras were introduced in the city in 2014, and violators generally only get one or two tickets — a sign that they serve as a deterrent, officials argue.
Hernandez said he was hit with one speeding ticket himself and learned his lesson.
“If they catch somebody speeding, it’s good,” he said.
But truck driver Javier Mora, 39, of Harlem said the cameras pose a problem for those who breach the speed limit by a few miles per hour.
“Who drives 25 miles per hour?” he said. ” People usually drive 30 or about 25. You shouldn’t get any tickets just because you drive 3 [mph] over.”
The ’round-the-clock cameras come after state lawmakers previously reached a deal to renew the program, which was set to expire at the end of June, and to allow tickets to be issued based on 24/7 surveillance.
Speed cameras decrease speeding by 72 percent in the areas they are placed, supporters say.
“New Yorkers deserve to be safe on our streets 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and keeping our cameras on is a critical step in that direction,” Mayor Eric Adams said last month.