Protesters clogged intersections in the downtown area with only selective interference from the police.
Currently, the city is allowed to operate 50 cameras at intersections in the five boroughs.
Police cadets waved flashlights at intersections in the otherwise darkened corridors of Lower Manhattan.
Mr de Blasio intends to make 50 particularly lethal intersections in the city safer.
The action centres on the corner of 23rd and L streets, one of the liveliest intersections in the capital.
The city said there were about 12,000 signaled intersections in the city and it could not monitor them all.
What he does at those intersections in the next six to twelve months is what will ultimately define today's speech.
Still, he said, the police have asked the Department of Transportation to study problem intersections in the precinct.
When asked if the Government would end blockades of ministries and key intersections in the city, he said: "Soon.
An article in the Neighborhood Report pages last Sunday about dangerous intersections in the city referred incorrectly to the intersection of Essex and Delancey Streets.
Delhi's government will install air purifiers and mist-making devices at major road intersections in the Indian capital to curb choking levels of pollution.
