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Hectic 5-way Brooklyn intersection where bus fatally struck boy has no crosswalk markings
By
Ryan Kost
and
Louis C. Hochman
Published May 1, 2026
Modified May 1, 2026
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Ryan Kost / Gothamist
By
Ryan Kost
and
Louis C. Hochman
Published May 1, 2026
Modified May 1, 2026
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The busy five-way Williamsburg intersection where a 9-year-old boy was killed by the driver of a school bus Friday morning lacked crosswalk markings at the time of the tragedy, prompting one city councilmember to make an urgent call for safety improvements.
The bustling junction of Lee Avenue, Lorimer Street and Wallabout Street underwent recent safety improvements that included repaving, according to the city transportation department. It said new road markings will be added in the coming days.
In the hours after the crash, people hustled their way across the street without them, to a yeshiva and the apartments and businesses surrounding the intersection. Cars and dozens of buses clogged the intersection, laying on their horns.
Police said that around 8:15 a.m. Friday, a 49-year-old school bus driver was making a left turn from Lee Avenue onto Lorimer Street when the bus struck the child. The driver initially left the scene, police said, but returned after being told what happened. The NYPD said the child was taken to Woodhull Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Councilman Lincoln Restler Friday called on the city Department of Transportation to expedite plans for new crosswalk markings. He said he was also asking the city to analyze signal timing to potentially give pedestrians more time to cross. He said transportation should consider daylighting — barring parking spaces close to the intersection — to improve visibility.
“No community should have to endure a tragedy like this,” Restler said in a statement.
Restler said he was also asking the NYPD to station a crossing guard at the site. Later Friday morning, after the crash, one was present and guiding children and adults through the commotion.
Baruch Herzfeld, a longtime Brooklyn cyclist and street safety advocate, described it as a “one of the most crowded places for children in New York City,” as children come home from school and people get ready for the Jewish Sabbath. Herzfeld said he considers the “dozens of school buses passing through the intersection like every hour here” an unnecessary hazard. The B48 bus also stops on both sides of Lee Avenue at the intersection.
The intersection of Lee Avenue, Lorimer Street and Wallabout Street.
Google Maps
A police spokesperson said they were still gathering information and did not yet know whether the bus was from a private or public school.
Data collected by NYC Crash Mapper reflects at least eight crashes at the intersection since 2020, with five injuries but no fatalities. Six children have been killed in traffic on city streets this year, according to the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives.
According to the transportation department, a recent capital safety project, including a concrete curb extension and a new pedestrian island, will reduce the speed of turning vehicles and shorten the time it takes people to cross the street.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on social media he was “devastated by the loss of a 9-year-old boy struck this morning while crossing the street in Williamsburg,” and expressed sympathy for the boy’s family.
“Children should be safe walking around our city, and this horrific road death is a painful reminder that we must continue to use every tool available to make our streets safe for all New Yorkers,” he said.
Police said no arrests have been made and they are waiting to notify the boy's family before releasing his identity. The NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad is investigating the incident.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct a description of Baruch Herzfeld. This story has also been updated with more information.
Tagged
brooklyn
public safety
Ryan Kost
Ryan Kost is a reporter on the day-of news desk, where he covers breaking news and writes enterprise stories about jails, courts, prosecutors and government accountability. His work focuses on the public institutions that shape life in New York. Before joining the newsroom, he lead a multi-part investigation with Columbia Journalism Investigations and New York Focus into how New York prosecutors handle wrongful conviction claims. He's also been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and The Oregonian. Got a tip? Signal: ryankost.20
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Louis C. Hochman
After about two decades in (mostly) New Jersey-focused commercial print, digital and digital-but-radio-adjacent news, Lou stumbled into member-supported news in early 2021, as the editor and CEO of Montclair Local. There, he (hopes he) expanded enterprise, brought more sophistication to digital storytelling and moved the nonprofit newsroom closer to long-term financial sustainability. He helped lead the Local to its fourth consecutive General Excellence award from the New Jersey Press Association — the NJPA's highest honor with judges noting the paper's work to strip away layers of government opacity, to hold power to account, to make news accessible for more members of the community, to share the stories and concerns of more facets of the community and to tell compelling stories across multiple media. He's excited to continue the same ethic — news as a public service — at NYPR as the New Jersey and suburbs editor, drawing on the extraordinary talents of reporters including Karen Yi and Nancy Solomon. Lou lives in Philly (that commute!) with his partner and their two cats, about whom and about which he speaks incessantly.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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