WHEREAS, in 2013 I signed into law Chapter 189 of the Laws of 2013, codified at N.Y. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1180-b, to develop a system to advance school zone highway safety by use of camera technology to record and enforce speeding violations;

WHEREAS, in 2014, I signed into law an amendment to the above-referenced law authorizing the deployment of speed cameras in 140 school zones throughout the City of New York;

WHEREAS, the New York State Senate adjourned the 2018 legislative session without having acted to extend the aforementioned laws, and has yet to return to act on the same, which, without necessary emergency action taken by the NYC Council, NYC Mayor and the Executive, would have ended a program that has demonstratively and successfully protected school children, families and educators through the use of camera technology to record and enforce speeding violations in school zones;

WHEREAS, it is unacceptable to place school children at risk of serious physical harm and death in the very same places where they are to be educated, cared for, and protected, and that such school children have the right to safely access schools for the purposes of education and enrichment;

WHEREAS, based upon the foregoing, the New York State Police and the New York State Department of Transportation believe that the termination of New York City’s speed camera program would result in an eminent disaster emergency that places at risk the health and safety of school children, parents, educators, school employees and volunteers within the City of New York, as well as other pedestrians, and will result in a needless increase in pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries;

WHEREAS, New York City schools are now open and have thus experienced a dramatic increase in the number of children and pedestrians in their zones; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor of New York and City Council have taken actions evidencing the local government’s belief that children are in imminent danger and that a public safety emergency exist without this respective program.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ANDREW M. CUOMO, Governor of the State of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Laws of the State of New York, do hereby extend the state of disaster emergency declared pursuant to Executive Order No. 188 and extend all of the terms, conditions, and directives of Executive Order No. 188 for the period from the date that the disaster emergency was declared pursuant to Executive Order No. 188 until March 19, 2019.