A 10 Year Old Is Asking The City For A Speed Camera By Her School

HUDSON YARDS, NY — A Murray Hill middle-schooler is asking City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and the Department of Transportation to help get a speed camera installed at her middle-school in Hudson Yards.

Jennifer Hampton's daughter Daisy, 10, recently asked her local councilmember, Keith Powers, if he could help and also wrote a letter to Johnson, who represents Hudson Yards and who spearheaded city-legislation to expand school speed cameras in the city.

"It would be great if I and my fellow students from kindergarten to 8th graders can cross the street on our first day of the new school year not only excited about what's ahead, but knowing we are safe as we get there," wrote Daisy, a rising sixth-grader at Success Academy Hudson Yards, at West 41st Street and Tenth Avenue.

"I see a lot of cars just zooming by, and when there’s larger trucks, they especially don't care," Daisy told Patch. "With speed cameras, they will get a $50 fine and that might make drivers think twice before they speed."

When Daisy started at the school last fall, "the first thing we and all the parents noticed was, 'Oh my goodness — it is such a precarious situation,'" said Hampton, who was the vice-president of the schools' parent council last school year.

Vehicles "often jump the corner," she said. "They may not be fully aware that there is a school there."

Though guards guide traffic in the morning and afternoon, there are none on-site when kids walk to recess at a nearby playground, Hampton added.

My 10-year-old daughter, Daisy, learned early to be an advocate -- and she continues, here asking @NYCSpeakerCoJo and @NYC_DOT for a speed camera at her school. https://t.co/fTQ55K9hZU
— Jennifer Hampton (@daisysmom0113) July 19, 2019

Both offices of Powers and Johnson have been in contact with DOT about the issue, their respective offices said.

Powers said it's "great that Daisy is taking initiative to address such an important issue."

Johnson added, "Speed cameras save lives, and my office is working with the DOT to ensure that this location is as safe as possible for students and residents alike."

The Department of Transportation could not confirm if the Hudson Yards school will be a part of the hundreds of new cameras to be added since the department does not disclose where cameras are sited.

The future speed camera locations are data-driven, the DOT said.

But the push for a speed camera at the school comes months after 500 people signed a petition urging Community Board 4 to advocate for traffic fixes at the intersection, Midtown Gazette reported in October. CB 4 ultimately requested DOT safety enhancements at the intersection.

Planters with greenery have since been sited to prevent trucks from jumping the curb, according to Hampton. A "split-turn signal" to prevent left-turning vehicles onto West 41st Street from turning while pedestrians are crossing was also implemented, DOT confirmed.

"It's been one of our biggest issues since day 1," said Mike Dale, the business operations manager at the middle-school. "Our biggest concern is we’re right at the entrance at the Lincoln Tunnel. There’s just so much traffic on any given day. … It's a real safety hazard."

Dale said better signage alerting drivers about the school could also help — something that CB 4 included in its letter to DOT.

Though DOT is unable to say whether it will site a camera at the school, Hampton says the more safety measures the better. The cameras would slap drivers with $50 fines if they drive faster than 10 miles per hour, Patch previously reported.

"I think this added layer will be a good detriment," Hampton said. "If [drivers] don't want to get repeated fines, that may really help.”

This article has been updated with comment from City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.