According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, New Yorkers already have about 4,200 public and private surveillance cameras in downtown Manhattan.

When installed by the NYPD, the latest in technology cameras will have the ability to take license-plate numbers off of motor vehicles, operate with night-vision, and be romotely controlled to zoom, rotate, tilt, and pan.

According to NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly, the city has garnered about $15 million from the federal Homeland Security Department and $10 million from the city for its planned network of cameras around New York City. In all, about $90 million is the expected cost for the anti-terrorist/anti-crime/anti-traffic-congestion project. That extra money is being generated, hopefully, through federal grants.

If implemented, New York City will become the first city in the United States to have a London-style surveillance camera system. The initiative is patterned after the comprehensive network of cameras and roadblocks established in London, England. The network is designed to detect, track, and deter terrorists, crime in general, and to relieve traffic congestion on the busiest streets in London.

The final goal is to have about 3,000 new cameras below Canal Street in New York City. A police operational center would control the camera system, which includes moveable roadblocks.

In 2003, London began charging about $9 (equivalent U.S. dollars) for drivers to drive on congested downtown city streets. The charge has subsequently been raised to about $14. Immediately after the charge went into effect, traffic dropped by about 70,000 vehicles each day and congestion dropped by about 20%. (In addition, carbon dioxide emissions, a greenhouse gas, fell by over 15%.)

Economic doomsayers said the charge would bankrupt businesses in the busy central part of the city. However, according to London officials, the opposite has occurred—with booming visitors and activities in the affected areas. They state that London’s theater district, which is almost entirely in the charged zone, has had increased  audiences for their shows.

Current plans for New York City call for up to 116 cameras to monitor motor vehicles driving in downtown New York City. In addition, plans are in the works for a London-like congestion pricing proposal that would charge drivers to drive into Manhattan below 86th Street.

Will success in London carry over to New York City.?

There is no guarantees but a congestion pricing program can work if properly executed and efficiently managed. Other world cities, such as Singapore and Stockholm, Sweden, are already using such programs and other cities are looking into the possibilities. Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California already are preparing to expand their camera systems, after seeing their successes in controlling crime and traffic in their cities.

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