School Bus Stop Arm Cameras Coming Soon to White Plains
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Santa Claus is not the only one on the lookout for bad behavior this winter.
The White Plains Common Council already installed cameras to catch red light offenders and is now getting close to adding them to school buses to catch those who disobey the stop arm while children are getting off and on.
That’s not all though.
City officials made it known again during a special council meeting Nov. 25 that they are in the early stages of exploring what it would take to add speed cameras in school zones and perhaps elsewhere.
“I realize people don’t like this, but I get the calls from people that people are speeding in their neighborhood,” said Mayor Thomas Roach. “It is selfish to do that.”
Earlier this year, councilmembers were successful in obtaining a five-year extension from the state for its red-light camera program. That safety tactic is not going anywhere, and neither is the drive for more to be done.
“When people talk about this, red light cameras, and stay tuned, school zone speed cameras, as a tax, you decide whether you’re going to have to pay this,” said Roach. “If you follow the law, you’re not going to have to pay this. But if you pass a stopped school bus, that has a stop sign out there, you’re putting people’s lives at risk.”
The council already passed the measure necessary to allow the school bus cameras to be installed and people to be fined, though without any points to their license. Fines start at $250 for the first offense. The red light violators only pay $50.
“There are some people who think it’s another way to have a fine, but we’re really saving lives this way and making safer roads, not just for the people on the bus or driving the bus, but also for pedestrians and other drivers,” said Councilwoman Jenn Puja.
As soon as Dec. 2, the council could enter into an agreement with BusPatrol to administer the program in partnership with the White Plains School District.
“Bus Patrol will receive 55% of the revenue and the city will receive 45% and the term of the agreement will be until June 27,” said Kevin Livingston, parking and traffic commissioner.
At the same meeting, the council learned more about the status of its Affordable Housing Assistance Fund, a bucket of dollars filled by developers’ fees in lieu of providing the cheaper places to live within their own projects.
The council will consider providing $4.75 million to Wilder Balter Partners (WBP) for its 108 future units of for-sale affordable condominiums as part of the heavily subsidized reuse of the former Berkely College buildings at 99 Church St. and 6 Cottage Place.
“This funding represents approximately 11 percent of the public financing of this project,” said WBP’s attorney Mark Weingarten. “The public financing subsidy for this project totals $42,812,000. The total project cost is approximately $78 million.”
The council pulled $500,000 from the fund in early November to help subsidize a 12-unit affordable rental housing development at 60 South Kensico Ave.
Planning Commissioner Chris Gomez said the fund would go from having slightly more than $6 million to some $800,000 if both affordable housing projects were to receive the funds.
But he noted that it won’t be long before it’s replenished.
“What I will add is that there are two projects undergoing construction currently – both Hamilton Green and the former YMCA site, the Southern Land property (the Juliette),” he said. “Both of those have a fee in lieu structure as part of their site plan approvals.”
“As the certificates of occupancy come online for both of those projects, the total sum of both of those is a little bit over $6 million, so we’d have about $800,000 left and another $6 million coming imminently in 2025.”
In other business, the council is also looking to adopt a measure to allow the city to go to court and issue fines to people who don’t fix their defective sidewalks adjacent to their property.
“Right now, there’s almost no consequences. It’s almost a hole in the legislation that this would correct,” said John Callahan, the city’s corporation counsel and chief of staff.
Andy Milone has been a freelance reporter covering local government for various New Jersey and New York news outlets since May 2024. The Chatham, New Jersey native and Gettysburg College graduate previously worked as a full-time reporter for The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in Iowa, Pine Barrens Tribune in New Jersey and The Shippensburg News-Chronicle in Pennsylvania. He began working as a professional journalist in 2018. You can reach him at 201-406-7222 (call/text) or by emailing andymilone@protonmail.com.