School Bus Driver Kills 9-Year-Old at Williamsburg Intersection
A school bus driver making a left turn at Lee Avenue and Lorimer Street hit and killed a 9-year-old boy on May 1, 2026, and police said the 49-year-old driver initially left before returning.
What We Know
On May 1, 2026, a school 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 one pedestrian death and failure to yield right-of-way in the crash. Police told reporters the 49-year-old driver initially continued away from the scene, then returned after being notified. News reports identified the child as Joel or Yoel Jacobowitz and said he had been on his way to school. Reports also noted that the five-way intersection had recently been under construction and lacked clear crosswalk markings, prompting calls from local officials for markings, signal review, daylighting and a crossing guard.
A left turn as a child crossed
The city crash record says the crash happened at 8:16 a.m. on May 1, 2026, at Lee Avenue and Lorimer Street in Brooklyn. It records one pedestrian death involving a bus whose driver was making a left turn.
Police told multiple outlets that a 49-year-old school bus driver was turning from Lee Avenue onto Lorimer Street when he hit the 9-year-old boy as the child crossed the street. ABC7 and the Daily News reported that the boy was on his way to school.
Police said the driver initially continued away from the scene and later returned after being told what had happened. CBS reported that the driver said he was unaware he had hit the child.
The child was identified in reports with two spellings
ABC7 reported that community members identified the boy as Yoel Jacobowitz and that police identified him as Joel Jacobowitz. Streetsblog used Yoel Jacobowitz, while the Daily News later reported that police identified him as Joel Jacobowitz.
News accounts differed on where the child was pronounced dead. ABC7 reported he was pronounced dead at the scene; CBS, Gothamist, Streetsblog and the Daily News reported that he died at Woodhull Hospital; the Brooklyn Paper reported Maimonides Medical Center.
A five-way Williamsburg crossing with a record of harm
The crash happened at Lee Avenue and Lorimer Street in Brooklyn, where Lorimer Street also meets Wallabout Street in a five-way intersection. Reports said the intersection had recently been under construction and lacked clear crosswalk markings at the time.
CrashCountNYC location data for Lorimer Street in Brooklyn shows 287 crashes, 157 injuries, 13 serious injuries and 4 deaths since 2022.
Failure to yield was recorded
The city crash record lists failure to yield right-of-way as the contributing factor for the bus driver. The record also says the driver was licensed in New York and was the only occupant of the bus.
Police and prosecutors had not announced charges in the immediate reports reviewed. ABC7 reported that no charges had been filed; Gothamist and the Brooklyn Paper reported that no arrests had been made as the investigation continued.
Officials called for immediate street-safety changes
Council Member Lincoln Restler said the intersection was one of the busiest in Williamsburg and asked the Department of Transportation to expedite new markings, review signal timing, consider a Barnes Dance pedestrian phase and daylighting, and have the NYPD station a crossing guard there.
Gothamist reported that the transportation department said recent safety work included a curb extension and a new pedestrian island intended to reduce turning speeds and shorten crossing distances, and that new road markings would be added in the coming days.