14th Street sees more motorists ticketed than any other busway
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Drivers illegally blocking the 14th
Street busway in Manhattan are
almost three times more likely to
get fi ned compared to other city busways,
an analysis of city data found.
On 14th Street, drivers were caught
hogging red-painted lanes at a rate of more
than 23 per hour of the restrictions being in
effect and per mileage of busway — almost
three times as much as the other two busways
with automated camera enforcement
on Main Street in Flushing, Queens, and
Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, according
to numbers provided by the Department
of Transportation.
One of the reasons for the discrepancy
may be that the cameras are mounted on
the buses for enforcement on the Manhattan
thoroughfare, while the other two have
stationary cameras installed along the
street, according to one transit advocate.
“Our busways are only as good as our
enforcement. This shows that bus-mounted
cameras are much more effective than stationary
cameras,” Riders Alliance spokesman
Danny Pearlstein told amNewYork
Metro. “We believe that bus-mounted is
the way to go.”
Pearlstein called on the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority — which owns
The 14th Street busway.
the buses as opposed to DOT which oversees
the streets — to add more cameras
to its fl eet to better catch errant motorists
hogging the busways.
“The MTA has the ability to roll it out all
across the city,” he said. “The MTA needs
to expedite implementing these.”
In 2019, the state Legislature lifted a
cap on installing automated enforcement
cameras for bus lanes in the city, and the
MTA has mounted the cameras to buses
on seven routes so far, including the M23
SBS, M34 SBS, M86 SBS, M14 SBS, M15
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
SBS, B44 SBS, and B46 SBS.
The analysis looked at the number of
violations the city issued to drivers on each
busway since offi cials started fi ning drivers
via automated camera enforcement until
June 15 — the date of the data provided
— while accounting for each roadway’s
different length and hours of operation.
The examination did not take into account
the warnings issued to drivers during
the state-mandated 60-day grace period at
the beginning of each camera enforcement
program. On the recently-fi nished 181
Street busway in Washington Heights,
this warning period remains in effect until
mid-July.
Penalties for rule-breaking motorists
start at $50 per offense, and increase by
$50 increments per violation, up to a maximum
of $200 for each violation during a
12-month period.
On 14th Street, DOT has doled out some
208,878 fi nes during 8,192 hours of being
active and across 1.09 miles of busway
since Jan. 20, 2020, yielding a rate of 23.39
per hour and per mile.
On Main Street, the number comes
down to 4,329 fi nes since issuing violations
began on April 9, 2021, with 1,608 hours
of active busway on the 0.3-mile stretch,
resulting in a rate of 8.97.
On Jay Street, the city issued 2,871 fi nes
since March 8, 2021, with 840 hours of
active busway across 0.4 miles, a rate of
8.54, the lowest of all three.
While the Manhattan busway had a
higher amount of traffi c before the busways
were implemented than the other
two, it was only 1.69 times busier than
Main Street and 1.63 times more than Jay
Street, according to average mid-week traffi
c counts provided by DOT.
An MTA spokesman said that the agency
has earmarked $85 million in the current
capital plan to expand its bus-mounted
enforcement program.
Comptroller candidate Corey Johnson gets emotional casting vote
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
Term-limited City Council Speaker
and candidate for New York City
Comptroller Corey Johnson cast
his ballot in the Democratic primary for
mayor, comptroller and a slew of other
races at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Center in The Village early
Tuesday morning.
The site located in the former City Council
member’s district had a slow but steady
turnout of voters with the longest line
consisting of only fi ve people right before
doors opened at 6:00 a.m. After casting his
rank-choice ballot, marking himself down
as fi rst-choice for comptroller, Johnson
told reporters and a small crowd of his
supporters gathered outside the center it
was “emotional” to potentially be the fi rst
LGBT citywide candidate to vote in the
birthplace of AIDS Coalition to Unleash
Power, otherwise known as ACT UP.
The international organization was
founded in the late 1980s by playwright
Larry Kramer and worked to call attention
to the HIV/AIDS crisis and eventually
eased access to HIV treatment.
Johnson, who is HIV-positive, said he
wouldn’t be alive today if it was not for the
work of the ACT UP.
“I cast my vote in the room ACT UP
was founded in, as the only openly HIVpositive
elected offi cial in the state of New
York …I’m mean, I’m alive because of
PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
organizing that happened in that room,”
Johnson said. “I felt sort of the apparition
of Larry Kramer in that room.”
Brooklyn City Councilmember Brad
Lander and Johnson were both the presumed
front runners in the comptroller’s
race despite the speaker’s late entrance.
The speaker did not offi cially decide to
jump in at the beginning of March, nearly six
months after dropping out of the New York
City mayoral race. Johnson was considered
a likely front runner in the bid for mayor but
dropped out citing issues with depression.
Outside of The Center, Johnson promised
he was the best candidate for the city’s
top fi nancial offi cer given his experience
negotiating the city’s budget during his time
in the City Council. Apart from reviewing
city contracts, auditing city agencies and
watching over the city’s fi ve pension funds,
the comptroller also reviews the New York
City budget.
“I know the budget inside and out,”
Johnson told reporters. ” This position is
going to be incredibly important for our
city’s recovery.We need someone who is
thoughtful, strategic and prudent about
how we handle the city’s fi nances.”
Like many fellow candidates, Johnson
kept his rankings close to his heart and
wouldn’t say Tuesday who he marked
down as his second choice of New York
City comptroller. After voting, Johnson
traveled to the Upper West Side to talk to
voters kicking off a four borough tour for
the remainder of primary day.
4 June 24, 2021 Schneps Media