WILLIAMSBURG — Yoel Jacobowitz, age 9, was struck and killed by a yellow school bus around 8:18 a.m. Friday near the intersection of Lee and Lorimar streets, described as one of the busiest intersections in South Williamsburg.
According to police, the bus hit the boy as the driver, a 49-year-old man, was making a left turn from Lee Street on to Lorimar Street. The driver left the scene, but returned after being notified.
The boy was transported to NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, where he was pronounced deceased. No arrests have been made and an investigation is underway.
Officials, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani and area Councilmember Lincoln Restler, said via social media and in statements that they were devastated by the news.
The five-way intersection was recently under construction and still lacks crosswalks and street markings, according to Restler.
Restler said he has requested that the New York City Department of Transportation make immediate improvements, including painting new markings; analyzing the possibility of installing “Barnes Dance” signal timing, which stops all vehicular traffic, allowing only pedestrians to cross; and studying daylighting the intersection.
He has also asked the New York Police Department to station a crossing guard there.
Advocates call for speed limiters in school buses
Last October, the city announced a program that would expand the use of speed limiters, known as Intelligent Speed Assistance technology, to all non-emergency fleet vehicles. This would impact 7,000 city vehicles, with the exception of “lights-and-sirens” emergency vehicles and specialized emergency response trucks such as snowplows.
However, many school buses are private contractors, and do not have speed limiters onboard, according to Transportation Alternatives, which has called for the devices in the buses.
Jay Brown, president of southern Brooklyn’s Community Education Council District 21, said in a statement that he will soon be introducing a resolution to require speed limiters on all school buses in the city, modeled after the city’s commitment to install the technology across its own fleet.
