It’s Not A Fancy New Geegaw, But It Will Probably Work Just As Well, If Not Better

You can’t get on the Today Show or photographed with Governor Schwarzenegger for it, but you know sometimes governing isn’t all bells and whistles — finally, something that actually might reduce traffic congestion:

Big Apple motorists who “block the box” at major intersections will be targeted by a massive new enforcement effort — and higher fines — under a bill given final approval yesterday by the Legislature.

The measure, backed by Mayor Bloomberg, changes blocking the box from a more serious moving violation, which can be ticketed only by cops and a small number of traffic-enforcement agents, to a category akin to illegal parking, which can be enforced by all 2,800 enforcement agents.

It also raises the fine for violating the new law to $115, compared to the previous $90.