Dear Neighbors:

“Slow Down Croton” is more than a slogan or a yard sign – it’s a guiding principle for all of us here in the community and a key priority for our Village government.

So we should all be very pleased that our Croton Police Department has won the Gold Award in the AAA Northeast  2022 Community Traffic Safety Awards program, recognizing communities that identify local traffic safety problems and then work to solve them. 

Our Board of Trustees is proud of Croton’s police for achieving the Gold Award. But we all know there is more work to be done, which is why we were so glad to hear at our Monday night Board meeting from Police Chief John Nikitopoulos regarding the ongoing work to achieve better traffic safety. You can view the Chief’s comments by going to Village website at https://www.crotononhudson-ny.gov/board-trustees/pages/webcasts clicking on “October 17 Board of Trustees Meeting”, and then clicking on the Chief’s presentation, the 4th item on that night’s agenda.

In his remarks the Chief noted that speeding is one of the biggest issues raised to the department by Croton residents. To help address the problem, he is now dedicating one full time officer each month to traffic enforcement.

This intense focus on traffic safety translates into real action – a 28.9% increase in traffic summonses issued in the January-August period compared to the previous year, including speeding, illegal right on red, going through a stop sign, or other violations. These summonses represent both a response to violations but hopefully also a deterrence to future ones.

Assisting the public to follow the law are the speed machines posted all around the Village to monitor a driver’s vehicle speed, with a new one to be added at the end of this month. The department’s strategy is to deploy these in numerous locations moving them to new streets when necessary. These devices are an effective way to let the driver know in real time that they are going too fast and must slow down.

We’ve made a good deal of progress on traffic safety, including by implementing suggestions made by our hard-working Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee, but we can’t stop now. For a safer Croton, we all need to decrease our speeding and increase our observance of all the traffic laws in place to protect all of us and our families.

Len Simon, Trustee

Village of Croton-on-Hudson