If you had difficulty getting to your after-work destination last evening in Midtown, you were certainly not alone.
Traffic was backed up for blocks on Thursday, June 21, as demonstrators took to the streets of Manhattan protesting the state legislators’ failure to allocate funds to continue operating the funding for 140 anti-speed cameras at locations near New York City schools.
Nine of the protesters were arrested by New York Police Department (NYPD) officers in front of Gov. Cuomo’s NYC office at Third Ave. and East 40th Street. Shortly before 8 p.m., approximately 30 demonstrators blocked the intersection and shouted demands that state legislators return to work to reauthorize funds for the cameras.
One of the arrested was a mother from Queens whose daughter was killed at the age of 3 by a speeding driver five years ago. The woman faces a charge of disorderly conduct, police sources confirmed.
The goal of the demonstrators is for the governor to order the legislators back into a special session where they could hash out a source of funding for the cameras. The state legislature had tabled the bill and adjourned just hours before the protesters took to the streets of the city.
Mayor de Blasio has been an outspoken advocate of curtailing speeding motorists in the city. Shortly after taking office, he pledged actions to reduce the number of traffic fatalities in the city, announcing that “[w]e at City Hall don’t accept [the] reality” that over 250 New York residents die annually in collisions.
According to Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, “70 percent of pedestrian fatalities involve speed or failure to yield.” The biggest danger to pedestrians on city streets is speeding motorists.
Were you injured on a NYC city street by a driver who was going too fast? You may want to pursue civil action and seek compensation for your injuries and damages.
