Bus Driver Fatally Hits 9-Year-Old in Williamsburg
A licensed bus driver making a left turn failed to yield at Lee Avenue and Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, fatally hitting a 9-year-old boy, and police said the driver returned after being told what happened.
What We Know
On the morning of May 1, 2026, a bus driver making a left turn at Lee Avenue and Lorimer Street in Williamsburg hit a 9-year-old boy who was crossing the street. The city crash record lists failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor and records one pedestrian death. Police accounts reported by multiple newsrooms said the 49-year-old school bus driver initially continued driving, then returned after being told what had happened. Reports identified the child as Joel Jacobowitz or Yoel Jacobowitz, and differed on whether he was pronounced dead at the scene or at a hospital. News accounts said no charges had been filed as investigators continued. Local officials and residents focused on the five-way intersection, which had recently been under construction and lacked clear crosswalk and street markings.
A left turn ended in a child's death
The city crash record places the fatal collision at 8:16 a.m. on May 1, 2026, at Lee Avenue and Lorimer Street in Brooklyn. It records one pedestrian killed and lists failure to yield right-of-way for a bus driver who was making a left turn.
Police accounts reported by ABC7, CBS New York, Gothamist and the Daily News said a 49-year-old school bus driver was turning left from Lee Avenue onto Lorimer Street when he hit the 9-year-old, who was crossing on his way to school. Those reports said the driver initially continued, then returned after someone waved him down or notified him.
Reports identified the boy in two spellings
ABC7 and the Daily News reported that police identified the child as Joel Jacobowitz. Streetsblog and the Brooklyn Eagle identified him as Yoel Jacobowitz.
ABC7 described members of South Williamsburg's Orthodox Jewish community gathering in shock and prayer after the crash. Streetsblog reported that a funeral service was held that afternoon and mourners filled the street.
The bus was described as a school bus
The official record lists one bus, a 2015 BLUI-TRUCK/BUS, with one licensed New York driver and a left-front point of impact. News organizations described the driver as operating a school bus or yellow school bus; ABC7 called it a private yeshiva bus, while Gothamist reported that police had not established whether it served a private or public school.
A five-way Williamsburg intersection had missing markings
The crash happened where Lee Avenue and Lorimer Street meet in Brooklyn, at an intersection news reports described as also connecting with Wallabout Street. Council Member Lincoln Restler said the busy five-way intersection had recently been under construction and lacked painted crosswalks and street markings.
CrashCountNYC location context for Lorimer Street in Brooklyn shows 287 crashes, 157 injuries, 13 serious injuries and 4 deaths since 2022.
Investigators focused on failure to yield
The city crash record cites failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor. Police accounts reported by Gothamist and the Daily News said no arrests or charges had been announced while the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad continued investigating.
News 12 reported that community sources who reviewed video said the driver did not appear to be speeding and that the child ran into the road seconds before impact; those details were attributed to community sources, not to a charging document.
Officials called for immediate street changes
Restler asked the Department of Transportation to expedite new markings, review signal timing, consider a Barnes Dance pedestrian phase and daylighting, and station a crossing guard at the intersection. Gothamist reported that a crossing guard was present later that morning and that DOT said new road markings would be added in the coming days after recent repaving.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the child's death showed the need to use every available tool to make city streets safer for New Yorkers.