White Plains Plans for Extension of Red Light Camera Program

White Plains is not planning to abandon its red light cameras anytime soon.

It’s quite the opposite.

The Common Council earlier this week requested state legislators grant a five-year extension on the municipal authority to fine via a 6-0 vote during a special meeting that Mayor Thomas Roach called for the day before because of pending action in Albany.

No substantive discussion took place during the five-minute meeting comprised of two items of business. Councilman Justin Brasch was absent.

“Red light cameras make people pay attention and improve pedestrian and vehicular safety,” said Council President Victoria Presser during a telephone interview. “People infuriate me when they blow through red lights.”

According to a press release, the red light camera program has been in place since 2018. The name of the game is public safety, which Presser acknowledged was an end result proven in past reports to the council.

The extension would change the expiration date on the authority from Dec. 1, 2024, to Dec. 1, 2029, for White Plains.

The technology can be installed at up to 12 signals in the city under state law, which has been the maximum since 2019. Drivers who run red lights, don’t halt at the white stop bar or make illegal turns at them are fined $50. The citation is given to the vehicle owner and does not impact individual driving records.

Under next year’s proposed budget, general fund revenues project $1.4 million from the thousands of red light violations expected to be processed, or what’s 13.59% of the $10.3 million accumulated for all municipal fines and forfeitures. Expenditures, however, show $810,000 earmarked for the contract with the provider of the technology.

A White Plains Public Safety page, titled “Red Light Safety,” lists the intersections clearly marked on the roadways:

Mamaroneck Avenue at Bryant Avenue, Main Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Main Street at Bank Street, Martine Avenue at Mamaroneck Avenue, Bank Street at Hamilton Avenue, Hamilton Avenue at Cottage Place, Westchester Avenue at South Kensico Avenue, North Broadway at Hamilton Avenue, Mamaroneck Avenue at Ridgeway, South Lexington Avenue at Maple Avenue, North Street at Bryant Avenue and Tarrytown Road at Central Avenue.

Whether that’s an up-to-date list of intersections could not be immediately confirmed.

New legislation 

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D/88) and Sen. Shelley Mayer (D/37) sponsored matching bills, Assembly Bill No. A10132 and Senate Bill No. S9237, on May 7 in Albany to amend the original state measure for White Plains in Chapter 222 passed in 2015 instating the “red light camera program.”

The council passed a home rule request last week via resolution because meeting documents indicate “local government does not have the power to enact such legislation by local law.” In other words, the municipality is “instructing” the legislature to adopt the bills. Roach said the last-minute special meeting was called “before (legislators) go out of session.”

“The Assembly doesn’t pass red light camera bills easily,” said Paulin in a statement. “Bills allowing the use of the cameras depend on a commitment from the municipality to use them for safety reasons, and not to increase revenue. Red light cameras were first authorized for White Plains in 2015. White Plains continues to be committed to pedestrian safety. I’m therefore comfortable renewing the legislation allowing for the use of red light cameras in White Plains for safety purposes.”

In other business, the council voted 6-0 on a second home rule resolution to correct state legislation adopted last year, giving the city the option to sell the defunct Galleria of White Plains’ public parking garage.

The error was in “number of and description of parcels” – what’s legally referred to as the metes and bounds.

“Park land and parking are treated specially,” said Corporation Counsel John Callahan by telephone, while explaining the need for the permission.

The 2023 legislation wrongly reflected the property information in Chapter 471 and would be corrected to match the land survey. Assembly Bill A10208 and Senate Bill S09291, sponsored by Paulin and Mayer, would make that revision if adopted.

“It’s the same as the original (2023 bill) in that it authorizes us to sell the garage. It doesn’t require us to sell the garage,” said Roach. “We’re not selling the garage. We’re just making sure it’s legally accurate to what is being authorized.”

Councilman Jeremiah Frei-Pearson asked the mayor in the future to place any item having to do with the former mall at 100 Main St. on regularly scheduled meeting agendas. He cited “how consequential” decisions are in reference to the plans for redevelopment there.

“Sometimes, we do have to do things quickly,” replied Roach, adding, “We’ll do our best.”

Councilman John Martin noted afterwards how “of course, parking will still be a large component of what happens there.” The current structure is about a third of the approximately 10-acre site that includes the building.

An environmental impact statement is viewed as the next step and is in the process of being obtained for the project, he said.